


Adopted by Gerard Way

by TunaDiamond



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Adopted by Frank Iero, Adopted by Frerard, Adopted by Frikey, Adopted by Gerard Way, Adopted by Mikey Way, Adopted by My Chemical Romance, Adopted by Petekey, Adopted by Peterick, Adopted by Raykey, Against the Current, F/M, Frank Iero smut, Gerard Way smut, Male Pregnancy, Mikey Way smut, Panic! at the Disco - Freeform, Paramore - Freeform, Ray Toro smut, Sleeping With Sirens - Freeform, Slutty Original Character, fall out boy - Freeform, m-preg, mindless self indulgence - Freeform, my chemical romance smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-04-20 20:01:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 66
Words: 70,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14268489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TunaDiamond/pseuds/TunaDiamond
Summary: Cassia Henrick is a virgin. A pathetic, lonely, emo, virgin orphan. She has been at the foster home for almost eight years when somebody decides to adopt her... her idol, Gerard Way. She has dreamed of this moment everyday - doesn't every kid want to live with their idol?Gerard Way is unmarried with no children, and just three other grown men for company...But Gerard loves Cassia a little differently than a dad should, but Cass doesn't know this until after she's been fucked by Frank, Mikey and Ray.Daddy's little girl has been a slut for everybody else, why not him?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on wattpad.com for more fanfictions from more fandoms. My username is the same on there. You can also follow me on fanfiction.net, again the username is the same.

The walls in front of me were bare barring a few scuff marks. I had been inside this tiny room for almost seventeen hours now, and nobody had come to speak to me, and even the guy who had dropped off my shitty dinner hadn't said a word. This whole place was shitty. It smelt, and it was cold and uncomfortable, and the guy who had arrested me had tried to feel me up.  _Could probably get the sack for that_ , I told myself,  _nobody'd believe you though. You're the shitty, messed up care kid, remember?_ Sometimes I hated not having a mum and dad. Sometimes it sucked. Sometimes it was cool. I didn't have anybody to be disappointed in me when I got arrested, I didn't have anybody to buy birthday and christmas presents for, which was handy because I didn't have the money to buy presents.

I smiled to myself as I looked at the food was sitting in front of me now, stone cold, making the room smell even grottier than it already did. I sighed, trying to huddle further into my leather jacket, hoping to keep warm. I could be in here for another six hours at least - you could only hold somebody in a cell for up to twenty-four hours without a trial - I turned my attention to the small window with glass and bars across it. I could see people walking in the distance, but none close by. My underwear felt crusty and dirty, and my shoes (which I had taken off) were staring forlornly at me from the corner of the room. I was sitting on the blue mat opposite the window, really wishing I was somewhere else. Anywhere else would do. But I'd really love to be at a  _My Chemical Romance_ concert right about then, right in the front row of the mosh pit, having Gerard and Frank moan in the chorus of 'Destroya' at me. I got goosebumps at the thought. I wanted to have Mikey Way say "fucking ready!" when Gerard screamed, "how about you, Moikey?!" at the beginning of 'Vampire Money'.

But I wasn't sorry for what I'd done. I'd needed the razors. I'd needed to feel the freeness that came with cutting, with watching the blood fall from my wrists and onto whatever dirty floor I was standing on. I was only sorry I'd been caught. I hadn't intended to get caught talking to an old friend from school, and I hadn't intended to attract the attention of a security guard as I shoved the stolen pack of razors into my bag. I felt like slapping myself. I hadn't been caught in ages, and I thought I was starting to get wise, to keep out of the eye of attention... obviously not. 

I'd been cutting since I was twelve, and had realised what it felt like to be abused, though nobody had ever sexually abused me. The first time I cut, I'd cut so deep I'd had to sit down in the gas station bathroom and close my eyes, slowly slurping the coke that I'd nicked before I'd gone into the bathroom. After the first time, I'd cut most days, and sometimes more than once in a day. It made me feel like I had a little control over myself and what happened to me, a feat that was not often achieved when a kid was in care.

I was shaken out of my thoughts by the sound of the deadlock sliding back and a key turning in the lock of the large metal door to my small cell. "Cassia Henrick?" A male police officer asked as he pushed the door open, shuffling inside, keeping his head down.  _Ah, so you've been told then. I like to manipulate the police officers who speak to me. I bet they said 'don't look at her. Avoid eye contact with Henrick.'_

"That's me." I answered wryly as I stood up and watched him gesture for me to come forward, still trying to avoid my gaze.

"Your social worker's here to pick you up. You're free to go." He offered me an encouraging smile, raising his eyes only slightly, and I almost felt bad for him.  _You obviously haven't looked through my record. If you had then you'd know that there was no point in giving me encouragement or hope. I'm a care kid, and I've been in holding cells plenty of times before. I'll probably go quiet until my warning wears off, and then I'll be right back here. See you in about three months, Junior. Maybe then you'll just shrug and look at me. It's been seventeen hours, Dick. It'd be nice to get some human interaction... preferably before I get shoved in a car with Anna for a while._

"Gee, thanks." I answered a little sarcastically as I followed him out of the room, grabbing my shoes but not bothering to pull them on. That required effort, and until I changed my underwear, effort was something that I wouldn't be volunteering.


	2. Chapter 2

She looked disapprovingly at me as I followed the officer down the corridor and into the main lobby of the police station. I was almost afraid to look her in the eye, though I wasn't a spineless coward like most of the police officers were. If I had a problem then I'd face it. Though Anna didn't exactly count as a problem - I wouldn't give her that much credit - she was just a mild nuisance in the life of Cassia Henrick. One that I would probably have to put up with for a while. I sighed.  _Great, God knows how long you've got left in that home. You won't ever be adopted! You're just a pathetic, lonely, emo, virgin orphan_  - I cut my own thoughts off. Everytime I wanted to hurt myself I always brought it back to the same insults.  _Pathetic. Lonely. Emo. Virgin. Orphan._

"You're lucky you didn't get charged." My social worker, Anna, said as she caught my shoulders and brought my eyes up to look at her, the policeman watching us carefully. That was his job I suppose - to make sure that all fucked up kids who'd been arrested were being bailed into the care of somebody responsible. Anna might seem responsible in the outside and in front of the authorities, but she was a reckless cunt in reality, and we both knew it. But that was what I liked about her... or what I had found to like about her. As a care kid, I'd had no choice in who my social worker was, and I had decided that instead of fighting against her (like I had for nineteen months when I'd first been orphaned), it would be easier to get on with her... at least a little bit. She thanked the officer and led me out to her car. "You're lucky you didn't get charged." She repeated as she pulled out of the small car park of the police station.

I sighed and shrugged my shoulders, watching the world go past outside of the small car that Anna owned. "I guess."

"You guess?" Anna echoed, "Cassia," she sighed, and I looked up. Anna and me were friends (kind of) and she only really used my long name when she was talking about me in a meeting or when I was in trouble. "There's only so many times you're going to be able to get off lightly. Stealing is a crime, and that's the eighth time you've done it in the last two years." She looked over at me disapprovingly and I pulled a face.

"Well if my shitty parents hadn't have died then I'd be able to live with them and then I wouldn't have to steal -"

"One, no swearing. You know I don't like it. And two, living with parents probably wouldn't have stopped you from stealing." Anna turned down the avenue to the foster home. I thought back to what I'd wanted for as long as I had been a care kid. A family, a parents... I didn't understand why no family members had come forward for custody of me after my parents had died, but then again, if they hadn't wanted to see me when I wasn't an orphan, why would they want to see me when I was?

"If I had shitty parents then they might have been able to get me bailed sooner." I muttered.

"I let you sit in there this time, Cassy." Anna said as she pulled up outside the care home.

I turned on her, ravenous as a beast and mad as a dog. "You  _what_?!" I yelled, opening the car door in anger. "Why the fuck would you do that?! You're supposed to look out for me!"

"Eight times in two years, Cassia." Anna reminded me quietly, trying to keep calm and not shout back at me. She'd done it a few times, and had always been deeply regretful afterwards. "You deserved to sit and stew for a bit. Maybe it'll stop you from doing it again -"

"Not fucking likely!" I yelled, slamming the car door and marching up to the door of the foster home. I banged on it with all my might and cursed loudly at the stupid care worker who opened it.  _Gah, I hated people! And I hated people who thought they were doing good by fucking care kids' lives up!_


	3. Chapter 3

"Cassia!" Marionetta threw herself at me as soon as I had walked through the front door, shoving the care worker out of the way. I impelled her off of me and stormed upstairs, making sure to put as much force into each footstep as I could. I wanted to fuck everybody off right now. I wanted to change my underwear... I wanted to fucking  _murder_ somebody, though I doubted that I would ever be adopted if I was also a convicted killer.

"Piss off, Marionetta!" I yelled at her as I slammed my bedroom door behind me. I loved my bedroom. The walls were black, and my bed cover were purple. I had white fairy lights  _everywhere_ and hanging from the ceiling, and I had posters of all of my favourite bands and rockstars on the walls. Looking at the pictures made me feel calmer, almost as if I could imagine the people in them smiling at me, talking to me,  _counselling_ me.  _"How was your day, Cass?" I imagined Gerard Way asking me._

_I'd shrug, "not bad. I spent all of it in a police cell, but I've had worst."_

_He'd laugh and give me a hug. "It'll get better soon, Cassia." He'd whisper in my ear, "I promise."_

_And I'd believe him_.

Most of my posters had something to do with  _My Chemical Romance_ or  _Fall Out Boy_ , because they were my favourite two bands. But Gerard Way. He was my idol, and my hero. Music had saved me so many times from making the final cut, the one that would push me over the edge and into the precipice that I knew I'd never come back from. The one that would reunite me with my parents... the one that'd cost the Government a small amount of money and the one that would result in my body taking up a space in a pauper's grave, my body unnamed and unloved  _forever_.

I had spent hours imagining Gerard and his brother, Mikey, in my room with me singing to me softly. I had spent hours imagining Pete Wentz telling me a ghost story last thing before I went to bed at night. I laid down on my bed and turned so I was facing the wall, and my favourite picture of Gerard Way. He was posing on stage in the Danger Days era, and his hair was red. He had one leg up on a speaker, and one hand clutching a microphone, the other in the shape of a gun pointed straight at his head.

There was a soft knock at my door. "Fuck off, Marionetta!" I yelled. Marionetta was eight, and practically the only person who spoke to me at the home, but I still hated her. I wanted to be an angst ridden teenager who confronted her inner demons by fucking getting drunk and partying with them.

"It's not Marionetta." A quiet male voice replied.

"If that's you, Tony then you can go to Hell!" I said, closing my eyes and imagining silence for once in my life.

" _When I was a young boy_

_My father took me into the city_

_To see a marching band_

_He said, son, when you grow up_

_Would you be the savior of the broken_

_The beaten, and the damned?_

_He said, will you defeat them_

_Your demons and all the non-believers?_

_The plans that they have made?_

_Because one day I'll leave you_

_A phantom to lead you in the summer_

_To join the black parade..._ "

I sat bolt upright on my bed and stood up, and walked over to the door. Slowly I opened it, hardly daring to even imagine such a thing could happen to me -

"Gerard Way?" I said in joy, excitement and happiness.

He gave me a lopsided smile and flicked his black hair out of his eyes. He had evidently dyed it back to Revenge era recently, though I hadn't seen anything in the media about it. "Cassia, right?" He didn't wait for me to answer. I think he knew I was too dumbstruck. "Mind if I come in?" I just stepped aside and let him into my bedroom.


	4. Chapter 4

"I, uh..." he trailed off as he looked around the room and saw dozens of pictures of himself and his friends, "you're obviously a huge fan."

"This isn't happening." I whispered to myself, closing my eyes and sitting on my bed. "This is not happening. Cass, wake up. You're still in the holding cell at the station. You fell asleep. Yes this is a fucking great dream, but it's never gonna be real. Wake up, Cass. Cassia, wake up."

I felt the bed sink a little as Gerard sat close beside me. He put a hand on my knee, though there was nothing sexual in the movement. "Cassia." I opened my eyes and turned my head so our gazes locked. "This isn't a dream."

I was silent for a few seconds. "If this isn't a dream then you're really Gerard Way... and Gerard Way is really here. Gerard Way is in my bedroom." I laughed quietly. The sentences that I had just uttered were too preposterous to even entertain. "Why, Cass, you've got an excellent imagination. Maybe you shouldn't have given up writing fanfiction -"

"Cassia." Gerard squeezed my knee and I snapped to attention once more. "I've read your fanfiction, and it's good. You shouldn't have given it up -"

"Oh great," I laughed, "now Gerard Way's read my fucking fanfiction. He probably thinks I'm some pervert -"

"Okay, some of those things were a little... nevermind. But for fuck's sake, Cass," he pinched my shoulder using the hand that had previously been on my knee, "I'm real. I'm here. I'm in your bedroom, and yes I've read your fanfiction." I was silent once more. "And I have something to tell you..."

"Don't tell me Mikey's waiting downstairs because I think I'll actually pass out." I interrupted, "I can hardly believe that you're here. I'm gonna be honest, I don't really believe you're here -"

"Cass, I'm going to adopt you."

Bombshell. Fucking bombshell. "You're... you are... adopt... you're going to adopt... adopt me?!" I echoed slowly, struggling to catch my breath.

"Cass, I've been looking for something to fill my life for a while now, and I think that adoption is the thing I need. I know you're seventeen, and you probably won't want to stay with me for a long time, but I'd really love for you to come live with me. I've spoken with the band, and they agree that it's probably the right thing for me. I've signed all of the paperwork, and the only thing you have to do is agree. I can help you pack the essentials tonight and tomorrow I'll send my PA to oversee the rest of the packing and we can do something fun -"

I threw my arms around him, catching him off guard. "If you're really Gerard Way," I said, "then prove it. Sing Cancer."

He sighed and smirked at me, knowing that there was a joke behind my request. Nonetheless, he cleared his throat and began to sing.

" _Turn away_

_If you could get me a drink_

_Of water 'cause my lips are chapped and faded_

_Call my aunt Marie_

_Help her gather all my things_

_And bury me_

_In all my favorite colorsMy sisters and my brothers, still_

_I will not kiss you_   
_'Cause the hardest part of this_   
_Is leaving you_

_Now turn away_

_'Cause I'm awful just to see_

_'Cause all my hair's abandoned all my body_

_All my agony_

_Know that I will never marry_

_Baby I'm just soggy from the chemo_

_But counting down the days to go_

_It just ain't living_

_And I just hope you know_

_That if you say (if you say)_

_Good-bye today (good-bye today)_

_I'd ask you to be true (I'd ask you to be true)_

_'Cause the hardest part of this_

_Is leaving you_   
_'Cause the hardest part of this_

_Is leaving you_ "

"Fuck." I said in disbelief. "Gerard Way is in my bedroom... he wants to adopt me. I'm... I'm gonna be his daughter -"

"Can you come to terms with this while you pack?" He asked, looking around my room. "I've got a new toothbrush and bedding and everything for you at home, and I have Amazon Prime so we'll get you anything else you want and it'll be here for tomorrow sometime and -"

"I just need this." I reached under my bed and pulled out a scrapbook. It was something that I'd been making with my parents before they'd died. It was full of pictures of them and me when I was younger - pre foster kid - and we'd written sweet little messages to each other within the pages.

"Are you sure?" Gerard asked, "no clothes? Electronics?"

"Well I have my laptop, but it's not really worth bringing. It's quite slow now, since it's almost seven years old -"

"Bring it anyways and I'll order you a new one. What's your favourite colour?"

"Uh, purple and black." I replied gesturing to my decorations.

"What colour do you want the walls in your room?" Gerard asked, "what colour scheme?" He showed me a picture of a plain white room with a bed facing a wall made entirely out of glass, looking out onto the city of New Jersey. "Any decorations? The interior designers are there now, and they're going to take an hour or two so I was thinking we could maybe go shopping. You can pick out a bedspread and duvet cover, maybe some books or magazines or whatever you want. Anything to make you feel more at home -" I threw my arms around him again, cutting him off.

"Nobody has cared this much for me in eight years, Gerard." I whispered into his ear, "you don't need to buy me extravagant things to make me feel at home."

"But your walls..." he whined like a little kid.

I giggled and pulled away, "maybe they could be a dark purple with black trees and leaves scattered around?" I gestured to my walls which were exactly the same as what I was requesting. "Kinda like this?"

He smiled and snapped a picture of my walls and sent it to the interior designer. "He said do you want shelves, and how many?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I need shelves. I have so many CDs and issues of Kerrang! magazine. Um, maybe four?"

"How many inches do you want your flat-screen to be?" He asked, still texting. "You can have upto fifty-two inches."

"I don't want to push my luck -"  
"You good with fifty-two inches?" I nodded slowly. "And I'll tell him to put your speakers on another shelf somewhere near your bed." He finished his message and put his phone in his pocket. "You ready to be Cassia Way?" I nodded eagerly and grabbed my laptop. "Let's go then, Daughter."

I laughed as he held a hand out to me. I took it and we walked downstairs together. I couldn't remember smiling this much in my entire life.


	5. Chapter 5

After I'd formally given my consent, Gerard lead me out to his car and helped me inside, throwing my rucksack of belongings into the boot. For a rockstar, he drove a pretty standard car, a black mustang that was almost as old as me. He drove me over to the mall and pulled into a parking space before turning to me and smirking. "What's your twitter username?"

"Um, MissCassHenrickWannabeWay." I paused, "why?"

"Change your name to MissCassHenrick." I did as I was told and then turned to him, showing him my phone. "Watch this." He pulled out his phone.

_@gerardway : welcome to the family @MissCassHenrick glad to announce that you're my adopted daughter. Will be heading to #RedWingMall in five minutes to pick up some supplies for your new room!_

"What is this for?" I asked. He held up one finger.

Within a few seconds his twitter had blown up, and so had mine. Within a minute I had over five hundred new followers. "Wow." I breathed out.

"Yeah." Gerard agreed, "it's weird knowing that people you've never met know your name and can see what you're doing. When we get home I'll teach you how to lock your account properly so people can't track us."

"Thanks Da -" I cut myself off, "Gerard."

"Call me Gee if dad's uncomfortable." Gee told me. I nodded. "Right come on then. We've got some autographs to sign."

Gerard was right. As soon as we walked into the mall people started bombarding us.

"You're Gerard's daughter!?"

"Add me on Snapchat!"

"What's he like!?"

"Wow, you're so lucky!"

"Will you and Gee take a picture with me?" 

I must have taken twenty five selfies and signed fifteen things by the time we made it into the first store.

Gerard turned to me, "exhilarating, isn't it?"

I nodded, a little out of breath from pushing my way through the crowd of Gee's fans. "It's weird." I agreed.

"But I wanna get on with shopping." He pulled out his phone and went onto twitter.

_@gerardway : give me an hour and then I'll sign autographs and take pictures, I promise. Just wanna spend some time with my daughter right now_

"What are we getting in here?" I asked, turning around to look at the catalogues running along the tables against either side of the store.

"Buying you a games console." He answered as if the answer should have been obvious.

"But I don't really game -"

"But I do." He answered, "and I want to be a proper dad to you. So we're getting you a console, and any games you want - plus the ones I recommend - and then we're going to sit in your room for hours at a time playing games and ordering pizza."

I smiled. "That sounds really amazing."

He grinned. "Play Station Four?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I don't really know a lot about consoles."

"PS4 it is then." Gerard grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the catalogues to find the required item code.


	6. Chapter 6

"I've got over thirty-two thousand followers now." I told Gerard as we got into the car, having loaded up the boot of the mustang with what he had bought me.

"You might want to change your username to Cassia Way." He gestured to my screen, "you'd probably get more."  
"I..." I trailed off and went into my settings, "I didn't want to do it unless you said I could."

"Sure, go for it." He smiled encouragingly and reached over to ruffle my hair. I laughed, because I liked him doing it. Usually I didn't, but Gerard's hand in my hair felt good. Okay, that came out wrong. "You're my daughter now, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Thank you so much for adopting me and buying me all this stuff -" he pulled out of the car park and cut me off.

"Cass, you don't ever have to thank me ever again... but you have to promise me one thing."

"Of course." I agreed automatically, "anything, Gee."

"You'll stop doing illegal things." He said, looking at me briefly and then back at the road in front of us.

I didn't hesitate. "Yes. Okay. I promise."

He smiled, "good."

* * * * *

Really, he didn't live too far from the mall. Twenty minutes drive at most. He pulled up to some metal gates and typed a passcode into an app on his phone, and the gates opened.

"That's really cool." I breathed as he drove up to the massive house beyond the gates.

"Download the app and I'll give you the code." He said, "by the way, your car is being delivered tomorrow morning at eleven." He killed the engine in front of the porch and turned to me. "You can drive, right?"

"Uh, a little. I don't really drive much as I had to share a car with three other kids at the foster home and they were always hogging it -"

"Well I got you a black Audi Q7. Is that okay?"

I threw my arms around him. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Cool," he smiled and got out of the car, I followed him and went to the boot to grab the bags, but Gee stopped me. "I got them." He held the key out to me. "But you could open the door." I took the key he was holding out and went over to the front door, inserting it into the lock and turning it once to the left. The lock clicked and the door swung open silently. I walked inside and stopped to look around. Fuck me. Never had I ever been somewhere so nice and clean and posh and so fricking amazing before and I was going to live here and I was in Gerard's house and oh my fucking God I was fangirling. No, Cass! I yelled at myself, he's your fucking dad and you're fangirling about everything still! STOP!

"You like the house?" I jumped in surprise, snapped out of reverie by Gee's voice. I turned to him and I was crying. "Oh God! Are you okay!? I didn't say anything, did I? Are you hurt?!"

I laughed and wiped my eyes, "Gee, you've already given me so much and I'm so fricking happy. I didn't think I'd ever get adopted or be this happy in my whole entire life -"

"Hey, Baby Girl." He put an arm around me awkwardly as he was still holding the shopping, "I love you, okay? I've known you just about three hours and I love you. You make me happy. Now let's go up to your room and unpack."

I followed him upstairs, still wiping the tears from my eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

He kicked the door to my room open and walked in, dropping the shopping bags by the door underneath the TV and four shelves full of DVDs. I couldn't take everything in. There were already items in the room; stuffed toys, empty picture frames dotted about, and -

"Signed posters!?" I exclaimed in joy as I ran over to the MCR one right beside my bed. It was signed by four people. "You got Frank, Ray, Mikey... you all signed this!?" Gerard slowly walked over to me, laughing. 

"Yeah. Mikey bought it over earlier and gave it to the interior designer -"

"Mikey?" I exclaimed. Gerard nodded. "Mikey was here?!" He nodded again, "Mikey Way was in my bedroom!?" 

Gerard chuckled. "Okay we have to stop you fangirling. Maybe if we got it all out in one go..." He trailed off, an idea forming in his mind. "How about we get unpacked and then we order pizza?"

I nodded enthusiastically and hurried over to the bags, pulling my duvet cover out of one, throwing it over to him. He caught it easily. "Can you put this on?" He shrugged and turned to the bed. I threw him my bed sheet and pillow cases and he put those on too. "I've got some pictures of my parents -"

"Do you want to put them in the photo frames?" He asked. I nodded slowly. He counted how many there were dotted around the room. "There's nine around the room, including the frames on the wall." There were only two on the walls, "and I can always get you more. I just ask that you keep one for a picture of us?" 

I smiled, "of course, Gee."

He helped me put the pictures into the frames and put them where I wanted them, and then he helped me to make the bed, throwing some of the stuffed toys onto the bed in no particular order or pattern. 

"So I was thinking that we could take a picture when we're both eating pizza?" I asked, looking at the last empty photo frame.

He turned away from the stuffed monkey he was holding. "That sounds great. What's your favourite topping?"

I hesitated. "Um... anything. I don't care."  
"Have you got any allergies?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nope." I answered, popping the 'p'.

"Then what's your favourite topping? You have to care, Cass. Come on. It's pizza for God's sake."

I laughed a little and tossed him a stuffed banana for his monkey. "I really like pineapple and spicy chicken with beef and sweetcorn. With extra cheese, obviously."  
Gee shrugged, "we can get that if you want -"

"Well I don't mind, Gee." I interrupted, "if you don't want that then it's fine. Get whatever you want -"

"We'll get what I want and what you want." Gerard promised, "I'm rich, Cass. When you're rich - which you now are - you can do and have whatever you want." He looked around my room which now looked more like my own. We'd gone to Hot Topic at the mall, and naturally, been bombarded, but we'd gotten a tonne of new posters. Some for My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Pierce The Veil, Sleeping With Sirens, and a tonne of other bands. I'd never been able to go in a shop before and not worry about the bill I was running up, but whenever I looked even remotely interested in something, Gee had insisted it go in the trolley.

He'd also bought me a tonne of new clothes, which he helped me to hang up and arrange in my ensuite walk-in wardrobe which was large enough to accomodate a large plush chair in the middle of the room, two full length mirrors and a dressing table.

"You know, you're doing a pretty good Dad job so far." I joked after we'd unpacked everything he'd bought me, barring the laptop which was still sitting in its box at the end of my bed.

He turned. "I am?"

I nodded, "you are." I assured him. He grinned like a kid at Christmas. We laid in silence for a few more minutes before he pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed a message. "Who are you texting?" I asked curiously, moving my head to see who the ID was.

But he angled his phone so I wouldn't be able to see it. "Nobody." He answered, sending it with a swooping sound effect, "just ordering pizza."

"I didn't know you could order pizza with a text." I said suspiciously, narrowing my eyes.

 

Gee watched me and then burst into a fit of laughter. "Stop it, Nancy Drew!" He stood up and turned to me, "wanna watch a movie?"

"Can we play a game instead?" I asked, "I wanna know more about you."

"Cass, I think you might be my biggest fan. I've never seen anybody have so many posters of me and the rest of the band." 

I giggled, "yeah, but I mean I want to know Dad things about you."

"Dad things?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." I replied, "and I have some questions prepared. And if you want you can ask me some daughter things too."

He shrugged and grinned, "sure. Come downstairs then."


	8. Chapter 8

"Do you want a drink before we start?" Gee asked as I sat down on the sofa. I shrugged, "soda? Pepsi? Coke?" 

"Um, pepsi I guess. Thanks." I answered.

"No problem, Cass. Come here. I'll show you where everything is. You don't have to ask for a drink then."

I got up and followed him into the kitchen. It was small, though insanely clean and bright. Everything was white, and everything was edged in grey. I watched him show me which cupboard had the glasses in, and where the pepsi was in the fridge (he bought cans). He opened the can and poured it into the glass. He poured one out for himself and then we went back into the living room.

We sat on the floor opposite each other, placing our glasses on the coffee table in front of us.

"I wanna ask you a question first." Gerard said. I nodded and waited for him to ask it. "Who's your favourite in MCR?"

"That's not a daughter question!"  
"I have to know who my daughter's favourite band member is!" He defended himself.

I giggled, "fine." I pouted, "I love you all equally." It felt weird referring to them as actual people when before they'd just been members of my favourite band who I thought I'd never see in person, let alone live with one.

"That's not the right answer." He pouted.

"Well it's my answer." I answered, crossing my arms against my chest and pretending to be mad. "My turn." He waited for me to ask, "how do you like your coffee?"  
"Black like my soul." He answered immediately.

"And your revenge era hair."

He chuckled, "is that your favourite album of our's?"

"I love Danger Days." I told him, "but Three Cheers is definitely my second favourite."

"Have you ever had a pet?" I shook my head. "Dog or cat?" 

"Dog."

"Rabbit or fish?"

"Rabbit."

"Guinea pig or hamster?" He asked.

"Aren't they the same?" I answered.

He laughed, and I felt a little embarrassed, though I was cut off by a loud ringing sounding through the house. Gerard pulled out his phone and turned off the sound. "I'm checking the camera at the gate. Someone wants to get in. Probably the pizza guy." A few seconds later, there was a knock at the door and Gerard got up to answer it. "Come with." I shrugged and stood up, following him to the door. He opened it and took the pizza, though there was eight boxes of it. 

"Why so much?" I asked.

He turned to me and shrugged, "I like it for breakfast."

"With the amount you ordered, Gee, I think we'll be eating it for a week." He chuckled and paid the guy before shutting the door with a kick of his foot and gesturing to the door. "Back in we go."

I went into the living room... and stopped dead in my tracks. There were three men in the room now. And I recognised them.

"Hey, Way." Frank said, saluting us, though I doubted Gerard could see from over the top of the pizza boxes in his arms, "I meant, Ways."

"I'm Uncle Mikey." Mikey Way stood up and smirked at me, "but you can call me Mikey or Mikes."

"I'm Princess Fro-Fro." Ray gestured to his mop of hair sitting atop his head, "nice to meet you, Princess Way."

"Cass, move. This pizza's heavy." He put the pizza in the middle of the coffee table, avoiding spilling our drinks and turned to the rest of the band, "Cass, guys. Guys, Cass." This was his attempt to introduce us.

"Well I don't have to introduce myself." Frank smirked and stood up, striding over to me and pulling me into a hug, "you already know me, of course. Gee told us you love MCR. He had us sign a shit tonne of merch for you -"

"Frank, language." Gee chided like a schoolmarm.

 

Mikey, Ray and me giggled, whilst Frank crossed his arms and pouted at Gee like a four year old. "Fuck you."

"No pizza if you keep swearing." Gerard threatened, though we all knew he was only joking.

"Okay I'll be good, I swear."

"You seriously think we're going to eat eight pizzas between us?" I asked as I looked at the pile of boxes. They had to be the largest pizzas that the company did. Maybe eighteen inches.

"Cass, Mikey eats, like, six by himself."

"No I don't -"

"Yeah, you kinda do." Ray interrupted. He turned to me, "we learnt that the hard way." We all sat down around the coffee table, leaving Gee the only one standing so he could dish out the pizza.

"That's an expensive coffee table." He told us, "Mikey go get some plates from the kitchen, and grab some more cans of Pepsi while you're in there."

Mikey shrugged, stood up, and walked into the kitchen, returning a few seconds later with Gee's requested items. He handed us each a pepsi, keeping one for himself. Gee dished out the pizza, obviously used to everybody's pizza orders as nobody said anything about switching slices or getting the wrong topping.

I watched my idols eating and closed my eyes for a second, lowering the slice of pizza from my mouth.

"Cass, you okay?" Frank asked. I turned to him. He was sitting close beside me. He put a hand on my knee, but it felt different to the way Gerard had done it earlier at the foster home.

I nodded. "Yeah, fine. Why?" 

I looked down at his hand momentarily, but he noticed it. However, neither of us said anything, and he didn't move it. I didn't try to stop him, either. "You just stopped eating and closed your eyes for a few seconds."  
"I was just imagining how I would have reacted if somebody had told me twenty-four hours ago that I'd be sitting down with my idols eating my favourite dinner with Gerard Way as my adoptive dad, Mikey Way as my adoptive uncle, and Princess Fro-Fro and Frankie Iero."

"You don't believe in miracles?" Frank asked seriously, in a tone that implied he had forgotten that there were other people in the room. But the sound of sniggers and jokes about him were enough to make him remember. "Oh shut up, you three." Frank said quickly, though he didn't remove his hand from my knee.

"You don't believe in miracles?" Gee mocked in a tone that was so close to Frank's I had to stop myself from laughing.

"I believe in miracles." Mikey said, "unicorns!"  
"Oh my God," I laughed, "you're all exactly like the fandom thinks you are!"  
"She's a huge fangirl," Gee told the rest of the band, though I was pretty sure he'd said he'd already told them, and Frank had definitely implied that he had. "So I think we should get all of the fangirling out of the way at once..."

 

"I know what you're hinting at." Frank smirked, shoving another slice of pizza into his mouth. He must have had six already.

"Don't tell her. It's a surprise."

"What is?" I asked, wanting to know what was going on.

"One week from now?" Ray suggested.

"Yeah. Here." Gee answered.

"Booze?" Frank asked hopefully.

"A little." Gerard answered slowly. I doubted he wanted to let me be around alcohol. I was a care kid, and he probably knew what care kids were like.

"Unicorns?" Mikey asked hopefully.

"Only if you catch one." Frank answered harshly, though it was in a good natured tone of voice.

"Is she going to have to go shopping?" Ray asked, looking at me.

"Yes." Gerard said, "Frank, Mikey. You're in charge of shopping -"

"What about me?" Ray said in a whiny tone of voice.

I was watching them all, trying to figure out what they were keeping from me. "You're in charge of furbelowing."

"I have no idea what that means, but I'll google it when I get home." Ray muttered.

"Who?"

"Everybody." Gerard told Frank.

"Even GD?" He asked in a tone matching Ray's whines.

Gerard sighed. "Yes. We have to let GD. Or they'll get pissy."

"I'm intrigued." I admitted, narrowing my eyes and finishing my third slice of pizza. "Please tell me."  
"You've got to wait." Frank squeezed my knee, and our gazes locked.

"I think I'm going to take my plate in." I said suddenly, standing up and walking into the kitchen, putting the plate in the sink and waiting for Frank to join me.


	9. Chapter 9

I heard him behind me and I turned, expecting him to be on the other side of the room. Instead he was less than an inch from me, and when I turned he put his hands on my hips and closed the gap between us.  
"What are you -?!" I hissed, though he cut me off with a short, sharp kiss.

"I'm glad you got my message." He whispered in my ear.

"Frank. I'm seventeen." I told him as I looked into his eyes and found myself wishing to be the sparkle in them.  
"I'm only just thirty." He answered, "it's -"

"I'm underaged." I reminded him, trying to push him off, though wanting nothing more than for him to hold on with all of his might. "It's illegal."

"Tell me you don't want this..." he kissed me again, though this time it was passionate, fiery and hot. Everything I had ever wanted a kiss to be. He pulled away, "or this..." he kissed down my neck and sucked gently, obviously being careful not to leave a love bite, "or this..." he let one hand go to the front of my jeans and stroke back and forth gently.

I moaned, though it was not voluntary. "Frankie..." 

He smirked against me and went back to kissing my lips. "I knew you wanted me."

"I -"  
"Frank!? Cass?!" It was Mikey, and I could hear his footsteps getting closer. Frank let go of me and stepped back, looking at me innocently. I tried to stop myself from blushing, and to hide my embarrassment at enjoying everything that Frank had done to me, and wanting more. But I was still a virgin. It was wrong of me to want more... and from a popstar... somebody who was best friends with my adoptive dad, a thirty year old man - but Frank Iero was interested in me.

"In here, Mikey!" I called. He pulled back the sliding door and came into the kitchen.

"You, uh, took a long time." He looked at Frank, "you okay?"

"Uh, yeah." Frank scratched the back of his neck, "I was just telling Cass about the 2005 Warped Tour?"

Mikey took a second to remember, and then his face lit up. "I remember that. It was fun, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." Frank answered, "it was."

"Well, anyways, Gee wants to um, spend some time with Cass so -" He cut himself off when he saw me blushing, and looking super awkward. "You okay, Cass?"

I nodded slowly. "Uh, yeah. I actually don't feel very well, I think I'm gonna go to bed." I hurried past Frank and into the living room. "Night, Gee. Thanks for everything." I kissed the top of his head, and dashed upstairs, much to his surprise.

"Where's she going?" Ray asked Mikey in confusion when he and Frank reappeared from the kitchen.

"Said she didn't feel well." Mikey answered, sitting back down and picking up yet another slice of pizza.

"Guess I'd better go see if she's okay. Take all of your pizza with you, just leave mine and her's." Gerard got up and went upstairs to my room.


	10. Chapter 10

I changed into one of my new pairs of pyjamas and pulled back the new covers of my bed, climbing into them and pulling them back over me. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but the pillows were too soft. Not like the hunks of brick I was used to at the foster home.

There was a soft knock at the door. "Cass?" It was Gerard. I sat up and looked at him, "you okay?" He slowly came into the room, almost hesitant, before walking over to my bed and perching on the edge, putting a hand on the duvet over my thigh. I hummed a reply. "You sure? You don't look okay. You look kinda pale actually, have you got a temperature?"

He put the back of his hand on my forehead, and I fought the urge to recoil from the human contact. It had been years since somebody had cared for me like this - had felt me to see if I had a temperature, come up to check on me when I said I felt sick... it was almost like having a family again.

 _You have a family now, Cass_. I reminded myself,  _Gee. Mikey. Ray... Frank_. My thoughts were centered around him.  _He kissed me. He touched me. He wanted me. He knew I was younger, and he still wanted me._ It made me feel special.  _Frank Iero wanted me. My idol, my hero, one of my favourite celebrities - barring the rest of MCR, and FOB, wanted me_. 

"Yeah. I'm fine, Gee." I told my adoptive dad, "I promise. Just felt a little bit icky."

He looked at me with a concerned look clouding his usually clear gaze. "You sure? One hundred percent?"

I smiled, so happy that somebody was (for once) caring about me.  _You have this forever, Cass_. I still couldn't believe my luck. "One hundred and one percent." I assured him, taking his hand and giving it a quick squeeze, "I think it's just the overwhelming feeling of happiness. Being adopted, meeting you and the rest of the band. And I had  _so much_ pizza."

Gee chuckled. "Well if you're sure, Cass...?"

I nodded, "yeah, I'm sure."

"Well if you feel any worst or need anything, come wake me up, okay?" I nodded, though I knew that I wouldn't. "My room is the last one down the hall on the left. Right at the end of the rug, 'kay?"

I nodded once more, "yeah. Last one down the hall on the left, after the rug." I paused, "got it."

He stood up and walked a little closer to my head, "night, Cass." He kissed the top of my head.

"Night, Gee." I replied as I turned over and closed my eyes once more, though I realised that the blinds were still open on the window-wall. "Gee?" When I opened my eyes he was still looking at me, "do you think you could close the blind? It's really bright -"

"There's a button, here." He opened the first drawer of my bedside table and pulled out a remote. It had several settings on it, though the largest two buttons being labelled 'open' and closed'. He pressed the 'closed' button and the blind slid out of of an alcove in the ceiling and over the window, blocking out all light completely. "Night." He put the remote control back in the drawer and left the room, closing the door behind him.

* * * * *

I wanted to go to sleep so desperately. All I wanted was to close my eyes and drift off into a state of nothingness. But instead my mind was awake and buzzing. All I could think about was the way I'd felt when Frank had kissed me... how I'd wanted him to continue... how I'd wanted the kiss to deepen and our feelings intensify... how I wanted  _him_. My feelings scared me a little bit. I'd never felt like this about anybody before, and I didn't know if my feelings were normal.

 _I'm seventeen_ , I told myself,  _and he's thirty. It's not normal, and it's not legal. Why would he want you? You're just a_   _pathetic, lonely, emo, virgin orphan_.  _Well, not an orphan anymore_  - there was another voice in my mind arguing with the first one.  _Well one of those things changed. Why not the rest?_

I don't know how long my mind kept me awake, but eventually I drifted off... though my sleep was not effortless, and I awoke four or five times thrashing. Once, I was so sweaty and felt so awful I considered going to go and see Gee...  _you're seventeen. You can sleep by yourself_.

I didn't know if Frank's kiss or how I was feeling about it had anything to do with my lack of sleep, but the morning eventually came, and I guessed I'd had about two hours of sleep altogether. 

I rolled out of bed, and went downstairs, hoping that there was coffee. Okay,  _knowing_ that there was coffee. Everybody in the MCR fandom knew that Gerard loved coffee, and I was guessing he never let it run out.


	11. Chapter 11

"You making coffee?" I jumped when I heard the familiar voice behind me. 

I turned slowly, getting a flashback to last night. "Frank..." I trailed off, and was relieved to see that he was standing by the backdoor, which he had obviously just come through. "You're... here?"

He nodded and took a few steps closer, though he slid into one of the seats at the dining table. "You making coffee?" He repeated, not showing any sign that he remembered what had happened between us the night before.

The coffee machine was almost done. I nodded and turned back to it, picking up the jug of miracle juice and pouring it into my mug, "yeah. You want some?"

"Yeah. Sweet, just like me." I could almost  _hear_ him smirking behind me.

Sighing, I reached up into the cupboard and grabbed another mug, and poured Frank's coffee. I chucked a tonne of sugar into it and then put the coffee jug back onto the warming plate and picked up both of our mugs, bringing them over to the dining table and setting Frank's in front of him.

"Thanks, Kitten."

I sighed and took a sip of my coffee. "Stop."

"Stop what?" He asked innocently, though I could tell from the smirk on his face that he knew full well what I was talking about. 

"That cuteness. Frank, I'm seventeen and you're thirty -"

"Only just." He interrupted, drinking his coffee.

"You're thirty, Frank. It's illegal, and it's weird -"

"I kissed you last night, Cass." Frank interrupted again, his tone monotonous, "and I didn't think it was weird. And you kissed back... albeit momentarily. You  _want_ me, Cass. I know you do. It doesn't matter if it's illegal because it's what we both want. It's consensual." 

I was silent. I wanted nothing more than to be Frank's. I had wanted it for years. Didn't every fangirl dream about their famous crush  _wanting_ to kiss them? This should have been a dream come true for me. "Frank..." I trailed off, unsure of what I wanted to say.  _I want to kiss you. I want you to kiss me. But it's illegal, and it'll probably - no, definitely - upset Gerard_. Frank waited expectantly, and I almost felt bad for keeping him waiting on my answer. But I still didn't know how to put my feelings into words.

"Just let me kiss you again, Cassia." Frank said in a pleading tone when I hadn't said anything for a few seconds, "let me show you what I can do to you."

I sighed. "One more kiss, Frank. And then this. Has. To. Stop."

He shook his head, "let me show you how I can make you feel..." he stood up and gestured for me to do the same. He stood in front of me and looked me up and down, licking his lips appreciatively before placing a hand on either one of my hips and pulling me closer to him, nuzzling my neck as I was an inch taller than him. But then he reached for my lips, and I didn't pull away. I didn't even try to resist him. He kissed me softly at first, as though I was a butterfly and he was afraid to hurt my wings... but then I began to kiss back more passionately, and my eyes closed in ecstasy as he licked my bottom lip, asking - no,  _pleading_  - for entrance. I granted it willingly, and opened my mouth, letting him in. Our tongues were fighting, battling for dominance, though I was well aware that he was going to win, and I think he was too. 

I moaned softly as he began to rub his fingertips in circular motions against my hips, skimming easily across the soft cotton of my pyjama pants. "Frank..." I brought my hand up to twist in his hair, knotting his locks around my fingers and letting my other hand rest on the back of his neck, "oh, God..." he was literally taking my breath away. He was such a good kisser, and he obviously knew it.

After another few seconds of intense kissing, he pulled away and I opened my eyes, "did I change your mind?" Frank asked quietly and hopefully.

I closed my eyes momentarily and nodded slowly. I swallowed, "yes." My voice came out as a whisper, though I was unsure why. Yes, he was an  _amazing_ kisser, and yes he'd taken my breath away, but it wasn't  _that_ great... okay, it definitely had been.

"Give me your number, Cass." He pleaded, letting two fingers twiddle my unbrushed, unwashed hair between them, "and then I can talk to you whenever I want." He slipped a hand into his back pocket and produced his phone. He opened it using his fingerprint, and went into the contacts app and then handed it to me. 

I took the phone and put my number in, handing it back to him and sitting back down, taking my coffee mug back into my grasp and wrapping both hands around it. Frank sat down opposite me once more, but he seemed to look better than he had only a few minutes before. He seemed happier, more free and...  _was there a sparkle in his eye?!_

I smiled to myself and took another mouthful of coffee into my mouth. All I had wanted the previous night was to kiss him back, and to be the sparkle in his eyes. And now I was. Today was going to be a good day. I knew that much.


	12. Chapter 12

"Morning, Cass. How are you -" Gerard cut himself off when he saw Frank sitting opposite me, sipping from his second mug of coffee. "Hey, Frankie."

"Hey, Gee." Frank replied, "you want coffee?"

"Um, yeah." Gerard answered as he threw his body into the seat beside me.

Frank stood up and took his empty mug with him. "Cass, you want some?" He asked, looking down at me.

My heart was beating fast, and my mind was remembering the contact that had passed between us just fifteen minutes previously. "Uh, yeah..." I trailed off, handing him my empty mug. Frank went over to the coffee machine and prepared a fresh jug of it, giving Gee and me some time to talk.

"You feeling any better?" Gee asked.

I nodded, "yeah." I answered, giving an honest smile. Frank had made me feel so much better... but he'd also made me feel ill in the first place (I think, it could have just been one huge coincidence). "Much, thanks. How did you sleep?"

"Pretty shittily." Gerard answered, "I kept thinking I left the oven on."

I laughed, "you didn't even turn it on. We ordered pizza remember?" 

"Yeah, I know that, but -"

"Speaking of pizza," Frank interrupted as he came back with the three mugs of coffee on a tray, "you got any left? I'm kinda hungry, and I finished mine last night."

"I think I've still got some left, but I don't know where it is. If you find it you can have it."

Frank turned to Gerard, "where is it?"

"Um, I dunno. I think Ray put it in the fridge before he left -" Frank was across the kitchen and had the fridge open before he had even finished his sentence. I laughed, and so did Gee.

When Frank returned with my box of pizza in his hands, I turned to Gee. "Don't ask me why he's here. I don't know why either."  
"I smelt the coffee and knew I was being called." Frank smirked at me like he knew a secret... well, he did. We'd kissed, and I'd liked it. I'd given him my number. 

"You smelt the coffee from your house?" Gerard asked. Frank nodded, and Gee looked impressed. "Maybe you should leave the celebrity lifestyle and become a primitive hunting dog."

Frank shrugged as he began to chomp on a mouthful of pizza, "maybe I will. Thanks for the advice."

* * * * *

"So this is your room?" I jumped in surprise for the second time that morning, and turned around to see Frank standing in the middle of my room, looking around. 

I nodded, "uh-huh." I shook my duvet and laid it across my mattress.

"You do know he has a maid who'll do that?" Frank asked. I turned to him, "think her name's Angelika or some other bullshit like that -"

"Frank, what are you doing here?" I sighed.

"Well I smelt the coffee -"

"No." I interrupted him. "That's not the reason."

"I wanted to see how you really felt about me." He admitted.

"Okay... but why are you here...? In my room...? And why is Gee  _okay_ with this!?" I asked in surprise.

"Gee trusts me," Frank answered, "though he knows me well enough to know that's a bad idea. But I'm leaving now, Kitten, and I wanted to know if you'd give me a kiss goodbye."

I let go of my duvet and walked over to him, making my footsteps slow and measured so I tortured him. When I finally reached him, he grabbed me by the arms and pulled me to him, kissed me passionately and then let me go. I stepped back. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to that." I admitted sheepishly.

"Get used to what?" He raised an eyebrow and bit his bottom lip.

"Frank Iero kissing me. Wanting  _me_." I answered quietly.

"Well get used to it, Cass, because it's happening." He turned and walked out of my bedroom door and down the stairs. I heard his footsteps head towards the front door and I heard the door close behind him.

Gee came up shortly after he'd gone. "Sorry about him."

I was busy throwing the stuffed toys on my bed, but I still replied, "don't worry about it."

"I don't know why he even came. He knows I want some time alone with you. Just a for a few days. A week at most, I promise -"

"Gee, it's okay." I sat on my bed in front of the pillows and crossed my legs in front of me, "wanna try out this playstation, then?"

His face lit up and he climbed onto the bed beside me, grabbing the controllers from the first drawer of my other bedside table, and pressing a few buttons to switch the TV and playstation on. "What do you wanna play?" He asked, looking at me.

I shrugged, "I don't care. Whatever. Your favourite game, maybe?" 

"I really love Grand Theft Auto V." He told me as he got off of the bed and went over to the TV, and pulled a game from the shelf beneath it. He opened it, took the disc, and put it into the playstation before returning to sit beside me on the bed. "I'll teach you how to play." But he was cut off by his phone which was pinging. I recognised the sound as that of the app which controlled the gates to the house. He pulled out his phone and looked at who wanted in. "Your car's here." He told me.

I squealed and dropped the remote, "let it in!" I yelled before I ran downstairs. I heard Gerard chuckling behind me, and his footsteps following me as I hurtled down the stairs faster than I had ever done before. I was so excited. My very own car! And it was black! And an Audi Q7!

I pulled the door open and saw the car pulling into the driveway and behind Gerard's car, which was still where he'd left it the previous day after adopting me. My new car was  _beautiful_. Sleek, shiny and stunning. Just seeing it made my heart race in excitement. I couldn't wait to drive it!


	13. Chapter 13

"Do you like it?" Gee asked as he stood behind me.

I turned to him and threw my arms around his middle. "I love it!" The salesman came to our door with some paperwork and the car keys.

"Just sign these please." Gerard took the pen and papers and signed his name with a flourish, before handing them back and being rewarded with the key to the Audi Q7. He handed it to me. 

"Have fun, Cassia." I took them and squealed, before I bent down and pulled on my converse from the previous day.

"Wanna come for a drive?" 

He smirked, "thought you'd never ask." He put his shoes on and grabbed a coat for both us before following me out to the new car. 

I got into the driver's seat and he got into the car beside me, and I looked for where to put my key in. There was no ignition. "How do you start this thing?" I asked him.

He chuckled, "there's a button just there." He pointed to the black button, "and it says 'start'." I pressed it and the car started. The engine was almost silent. "Just put your keys in the ashtray." I did as I was told and took the brake off, looking at him, "let's go." 

I nodded and put my foot on the accelerator and clutch, and pulled out of the drive. "Open the gates, Gee." 

He took his phone out and did as I had instructed him to, and I pulled out of the gates, looking at him in excitement as we joined a larger road. 

"Where to, Partner?" He asked me as he opened the window using the button on his door, "breakfast?"

I shrugged, "sure. Sounds good. Where do you wanna go?"

"Well Mikey's a pretty good cook. I bet he'd make a full english breakfast for us -"

"You wanna give me the directions?" I phrased it as a question, though it wasn't really one.

"Nope." He turned on the built-in navigator. "I paid extra for this feature." He put in Mikey's postcode and then pressed 'go'. It immediately began to spurt directions, and I was relieved because the voice of the navigator wasn't annoying or irritating.

* * * * *

"He has gates." I gestured with one hand to the house in front of us, which sat beside two large cast iron gates. Gee shrugged and pulled out his phone, typed in a passcode and the gates opened. "You have his passcode as well?" I asked in surprise.

He nodded, "I have Ray and Frank's as well. You want them?"

I nodded in reply, "could be handy in the future. Say if your phone's dead or something." 

He hummed a 'yes' and I pulled up just past Mikey's front door, not wanting to obstruct it or anything like that. "Right, we're here." He got out of the car and went to the door, knocking once. Mikey opened it a minute later. It had taken him a long time to answer, and I wondered how large his house was, and what he'd been doing in it.

"Um, hey." He sounded surprised that we'd turned up. Obviously Gee didn't often turn up unannounced.

"Smells like bacon." Gee replied as a greeting, "you making breakfast?"

"Uh, yeah." Mikey looked behind him momentarily, "oh, hey Cass." He acknowledged my appearance as I'd been admiring my car from out of his view. 

"Hey, Mikey." I, unlike Gerard, had acknowledged him in return.

"I'm guessing you two want some breakfast?" 

We nodded in unison, "how kind of you to ask, Mikey!" Gerard exclaimed in mock-surprise. 

Mikey sighed and shook his head, stepping aside to let us into the house.

His house was quite different to Gee's. It was a lot more open-plan, and it looked like he owned less stuff. His tastes were also a little more modern, and this was shown in his decorating.

"I'm guessing you'll want coffee, too?" Mikey asked as he led us through to the kitchen.

"Such an amazing host." Gerard said, he nudged me in the ribs, though not hard, "isn't he a great host? Mikey, you're a great host -"

"Yeah, he's great." I agreed, grinning like a cheshire cat. The two brothers were really funny, and I was getting to experience their banter. I would always be able to experience their banter because they were my  _family_ now. I could still hardly believe it.

Gerard's phone went off in his coat pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID before accepting the call and putting the phone to his ear. He gestured for me to go ahead without him, and I did, though I could still hear his conversation.

"Hey, Ray. What's up?" He listened to Ray for a few seconds, "but we need a week so everybody can get organised - what do you mean it's going to have to be tonight? No way. Ray, come on it's impossible. Decorations, food, guests,  _and_ shopping?" He was silent again, though for longer this time, "okay, fine. How's this for an idea? We have it tonight, and we'll just call everybody and say they have to come. No that wasn't your idea - look, whatever okay? I'm at Mikey's for breakfast. Yeah she's here. Sure, I'll put her on." He called my name. "Cass?!" I came into the hallway and took the phone from him, putting it into my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cass, it's Ray." Ray said as a greeting.

"Hey, Ray." I knew it was Ray. I'd heard Gerard say his name.

"How you doing? Better than you were last night?"

I nodded, though he obviously couldn't see me. I noticed that Gee had disappeared, probably in search of bacon and breakfast. "Yeah, I'm much better. Thanks for asking."

"That's great." He paused, "look. You know that thing Gee was talking about last night? And he said Frank and Mikey were in charge of shopping?"

"Yeah?" 

"Frank'll be at Mikey's in twenty minutes. He'll want breakfast probably, so make sure you tell Mikey -"

"But I'm still in my pyjamas!" I answered in surprise.

"I'll call Frank now and tell him to grab some clothes from your room on the way. Okay?" 

I was silent. I didn't really like the idea of Frank rooting around in my room, but there was nothing I could do about it. I could hardly go shopping in my pyjamas. I was Gerard Way's daughter, people might recognise me... and I was going out with Frank Iero and Mikey Way. I could hardly embarrass them like that.

I sighed, "yeah. Okay. I'll tell Mikey now."

"Great. See ya later." Ray hung up, and I walked back into the kitchen, and handed the phone to Gee.

"Mikey?" He turned away from the eggs which he was cooking on the stove.  
"Yeah, Cass?"

"Ray said Frank's gonna be here in twenty minutes, and we're apparently going shopping. He also said that Frank'll probably want breakfast -"

"I'll put an egg on for him in a bit, 'kay?" I nodded, "nice pyjamas by the way."

I blushed a little as I looked down at what I was wearing. A black  _Sleeping With Sirens_  t-shirt that Gee had bought me from Hot Topic yesterday, with a pair of three quarter length black cotton pyjama pants. With my black converse, I looked silly, but Mikey didn't remark on how I looked, only on my pyjamas. "Thanks." I sat down opposite Gee, who pushed a mug of coffee across the table to me. I took it, "thanks." I said again. Mikey set a fresh mug in front of him, and smiled at his brother.

"How'd you like your eggs?" Mikey asked me.

"Soft please." I answered, watching him going back to the stove.

I had always had a crush on Mikey Way. Fuck, I'd always had a crush on  _all_ of My Chemical Romance, and all of Fall Out Boy, Kellin Quinn, Jaime Preciado... I liked a lot of famous people. It was kinda weird that I had a slight crush on my adoptive dad... but Gee didn't feel like a dad. More like a friend. MCR was not only my family now, but also my friends. I smiled at that thought. Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Frank Iero and Ray Toro were now my friends. Frank Iero was something more to me than a friend, though I didn't have a name for what he was yet.


	14. Chapter 14

Mikey ran upstairs to change into his 'going out clothes' after he'd served Frank his breakfast and made sure we had everything we wanted. Frank sat beside me, and he kept brushing his hand against my thigh. It wasn't awkward per se, but it was something that I'd rather not do in front of Gee. Though I still enjoyed the contact. Mikey reappeared fifteen minutes later, ready to go.

"Did you bring me some clothes?" I asked Frank when Mikey sat next to Gee.

Frank nodded, "I left them in the hallway on the chair. I dunno what I grabbed, just whatever I thought looked good." 

Probably my underwear then. I thought to myself, though I thanked Frank and stood up, going into the hallway to retrieve my clothes. "I'll be back in a sec. Mikey, where's the bathroom!?"  
"There's a spare room directly opposite the stairs on the second floor, Cass!" He called back, "go in there. It'll be your's for when you come!" 

I smiled. Mikey was giving me a bedroom in his house. "Thank, Mikey!" I went up the stairs and followed the basic directions I'd been given.

* * * * *

Frank had obviously taken a lot of care choosing my clothes. He'd bought a pair of black ripped skinny jeans, a black lace belly top, and a black leather jacket that Gee had bought me yesterday. He'd also bought me clean underwear, which I was grateful for, but it distracted me a little bit that he'd picked them - that he knew what panties and bra I was wearing. I pulled on the socks and went downstairs, looking in a mirror as I passed it at my appearance. My hair needed brushing, but Frank hadn't brought my hairbrush. I took it out of its high ponytail and retied it into a messy braid to the side of my head so my hair cascaded over my shoulder and reached to my breast. I'd left my pyjamas in my room in what I assumed was the dirty laundry basket. 

As I came down the stairs, I saw Frank and Mikey talking in hushed voices to each other. But when they saw me they went quiet, and I saw Frank lick his bottom lip and look me up and down hungrily.

"I didn't know what shoes you had so I bought you these." He gestured to a pair of black knee-high boots on the floor.

I hurried down and grabbed them. I didn't even remember Gee buying them for me yesterday. "Did you get these from my room?" 

"No." Frank admitted, looking first at Mikey and then at me, "I went to the mall and uh, bought them myself."  
"How did you know my foot size?" I asked in surprise as I pulled them on and found that they fit perfectly.

"I guessed." He paused, "actually there was a girl working there who was about your height. I asked her to try them on - she was more than happy to help me." He paused, "but I did have to sign her phone case first."  
"Her phone case?" I raised an eyebrow, "really?"

"That's not the weirdest thing he's had to sign." Mikey interjected.

"One guy asked me to sign his spatula." I must have looked surprised, because Frank and Mikey chuckled. 

"Right, come on then or we won't have enough time." Mikey grabbed his car keys and ushered us out the door.

"Where's Gee?" I asked, looking around for him, "is he still here?"

"No, Gee borrowed my Volvo and left a few minutes before you came downstairs. Said he and Ray had a few things to do." Mikey explained as he unlocked the car with one click of the key fob, "you want to ride shotgun?"

"Hell yes!" I practically jumped into the passenger seat.

Frank pouted at me. "But I always ride shotgun..." he complained, though I knew from his tone of voice that he was joking. "Please let me ride in the front, Cass."

Mikey chuckled and got into the seat beside me behind the wheel, "get in the car, Iero. And leave her alone."

Frank groaned and got in the backseat.

"Who's tweeting then?" Frank asked after a few minutes.

Mikey looked in the mirror at him, "you can if you want."

 

@FrankIero : shopping today with @CassiaWay and @mikeyway 

 

 

"How many people do you think there'll be?" I asked when I saw his tweet come up on my profile. 

Frank shrugged, "a few. I didn't say where we were shopping, so it's probable that there'll only be a couple."

"You wanna go to the big mall?" Mikey asked me.

"I dunno why we're going, so I can't really decide that." I reminded him, "you pick."

"I guess it's the big one then." He took the entrance to the freeway, "they've got better shops for -"

"Don't tell her!" Frank exclaimed from the backseat, shocking Mikey into a violent swerve of the car.

"Frank!" Mikey yelled in anger, "don't shout like that so suddenly!" He paused, "in fact, don't fucking shout like that at all!"

Frank sunk back into the plush leather seats of Mikey's second Volvo. "Sorry. I uh, didn't mean to. Promise."

Mikey sighed. "I shouldn't have yelled at you, Frankie," he answered, "but it's dangerous to do that. What do you think Gerard would do to me if we got into an accident and something happened to her?" He jerked a thumb in my direction, "he'd kill me."

I smiled, "he would?"

"Yeah, he would." Mikey confirmed, "he really loves you already."

"It's been, like, less than twenty-four hours." I said.

"He loves you." Frank said, sitting forward in his seat and resting his head in one hand, "and so do we."

I smiled, though I knew that Frank's idea of love was a little different from Mikey's.

"Frankie's right, you know." Mikey said, reaching for my hand and giving it a squeeze, "we love you so much. And so does Ray. He just isn't here to say it."

He let go of my hand, almost as if he remembered that Frank was in the car with us. I was one hundred percent sure that Frank was jealous, and I liked the rush that making him feel jealous brought on. 

Mikey pulled into the mall parking lot a few minutes later, and he turned off the ignition. "Let's go shopping then." Frank said brightly. From what I'd read about Frank from the fandom, he was a really jealous person, so I was surprised when he kept talking like nothing had gone in between Mikey and me in the car.

Nothing went on, Cass. You're uncle held your hand for a few seconds. Nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. 

What my mind told me and what I believed were two completely different things.


	15. Chapter 15

I never understood why people felt the need to try clothes on at the mall. That's what receipts are for, right? Well, Mikey was the kind of guy who'd make you try on every single outfit while you were still  _at_ the mall. It was painful.

We walked into the mall and into the first shop without being recognised. It was a shop offering frumpy, cheap looking clothes and I immediately didn't like it. I turned to Mikey. "Do we have to buy clothes from here?" I complained.

He shrugged, "Cass, we're going to look in every single shop until we find the perfect outfit for you, 'kay?"

I sighed, "but the dresses in here look..." I trailed off, "frumpy. And old. And ugly. And vintage." I whispered the last parts of my statement so I didn't offend the woman behind the counter, though I doubted that she'd hear me - she looked one hundred and fifty years old.

Mikey sighed and turned to Frank, who was busy inspecting a rack of dresses. "Frank, she wants to go. Wha'd you think?"

Frank, in reply, pulled out a dress and held it up to me, seeing how it'd look. "It's pretty." He said in explanation when I shot him a glare. "Wha'd you think, Mikes?"

Mikey side-stepped past me to get a better look. He was quiet for a second. "She's right, Frank. These clothes are frumpy and vintage-looking." He took the hanger from Frank and put it back on the rack, "I wouldn't buy shit from this shop." He turned and walked out.

I hurried after him, pulling Frank by the arm as I went. I looked at Mikey outside the shop, "what about that one?" I pointed to a boutique. 

Frank shrugged and Mikey headed towards it, and I followed after them.

* * * * * 

"You'd look lovely in this." Mikey held up a thigh high baby pink cocktail dress with a chiffon skirt and artificial rose petals embroidered onto the bodice. 

I wrinkled my nose, "I'm more of a black girl, myself." I told him, "like this." I gestured to a black skater dress on one of the plastic models. 

Mikey looked at it, "but Gee said to buy you something pretty." 

"It is pretty, Mikey." Frank said as he took the dress from its rack beside the plastic model and held it up to me like he had done in the other shop, "look how great she looks in it."

"It's  _black_." 

"It's incredibly beautiful, Cass." Frank told me, ignoring Mikey's last comment, "why don't you go try it on?"

"No point trying on clothes that we know we're not going to buy -" 

"I'll buy it for her then." Frank retorted to his friend, "I want her to have it." He turned back to me, "find your size and go try it on. I'll help Mikey find some more stuff for you try on."

I nodded and headed back to the rack to find my size.

 

"How do I look?" I asked as I pulled the curtain of the changing room back, "do you like it?"

Mikey was still at the front of the shop looking for dresses for me, but Frank had come to wait in the changing rooms. He looked me up and down and then stood up, approaching me slowly. When he was close enough, he grabbed the hem of the dress and pulled me into his arms, wrapping them around me and holding me captive.

I laughed and swatted him away, "get off of me!" He chuckled as I wriggled free and looked at him, "so you like it then?"

"If you wear that tonight, Kitten, I don't think I'll be able to keep my hands off of you..." he trailed off and bit his bottom lip seductively. He looked about mischievously, "nobody's here." Frank stated. "Just a quick kiss...?"

I smirked, knowing that he really did like me. "One small peck, then." I knew full well I was going to let the kiss get passionate and hot and fiery, but I didn't let on. He drew closer to me until our lips were mere centimetres apart. And then with a deep hunger he pulled my lips to his own and kissed me, licking my bottom lip and tracing the scars on my wrists as he begged me for entrance to my mouth. I tried to hold out for as long as possible, though I knew it was a futile attempt. I opened my mouth and tried to maintain keeping my heartbeat to a normal rate, but the smell of Frank - and the feel of him against me - the way he dragged his fingers up and down my body and nuzzled my neck with his nose - made it impossible to keep it slow and steady. He made me moan, and I tried to be as quiet as possible, but it wasn't working.

He was chuckling softly against me, "you have to keep quiet, Kitten." He told me, "you don't want Mikey finding us, do you?"

I shook my head, letting him suck my neck, "just...  _Frank_..." he was making me feel so good, I could feel things happening in my body, below my waist, that had never happened before. "God... we can't keep doing this... I can't keep quiet -"

"Tonight, Kitten," Frank whispered into my ear as he pulled away from my skin, taking his fingertips with him, "wear that and meet me behind Gerard's shed at the end of the garden at eleven. Okay? Everybody'll be so drunk by then you won't have to worry about being quiet." I nodded slowly. "You promise you'll be there?" It was sweet that he wanted me to promise. He was like a small child, begging me to promise something that seemed so unimportant.  _This is fucking important, Cassia Way. Promise him._

"I promise."

His face lit up and his eyes sparkled.  _I am the sparkle in his eye. I make him feel that way_. I could hardly believe it.


	16. Chapter 16

We emerged from the mall two hours later, having escaped almost completely without having to sign any autographs or take photos. Frank and Mikey were carrying the bags, having insisted that I didn't. I opened the car boot for them and watched as they loaded the bags into it. 

"You can have the front, Frank." I told him sweetly, watching as he narrowed his eyes at me and then winked when Mikey wasn't looking.

"No he can't." Mikey said, turning back to us from whatever it was that he had been doing, "you're in the front, Cass. We're going back to mine where you're going to get ready, and then we're heading to Gee's at about eight."

"But it's just gone two." I looked at the time on my phone.

"Well you have to get ready!" Frank exclaimed. I giggled, he was such a drama queen. There was no way it would take me six hours to get ready.

"It'll take me, like, fifteen minutes to throw on a dress and some shoes. If that."

"Well you have to get your hair done." Mikey replied in a tone that implied it should have been obvious.

"I don't need it -"

"Gee said you could get it dyed, if you wanted. Or cut. He said whatever you wanted, as long as you were being sensible." Mikey explained.

"Uh huh." I paused and got into the front seat, Mikey got in beside me and Frank into the back, "and who deems what is 'sensible' and what isn't?"

"He does," Mikey jerked a thumb back at Frank as the ignition roared to life, "Mr I-Think-I-Know-It-All."

"I don't think, Mikey," Frank defended himself in a smart tone, "I  _know_."

"Asshole." Mikey muttered as he pulled out of the parking lot and drove further into town, probably looking for a nice hairdressers.

I laughed, and Frank scowled, though both Mikey and I knew he was kidding around. "This looks as good a shop as any." Frank said suddenly, making Mikey jump, though thankfully the car didn't swerve this time. "Whoops, sorry, Mikes." Frank said quietly as Mikey drew into the nearest parking spot. The car stopped and I jumped out of the passenger seat, Frank following me into the shop and Mikey following us both once he'd gotten the parking permit from the machine.

 

"Hey there," the hairdresser greeted us. She was pretty, probably in her mid twenties, with platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes and a wide smile, "what can I do you for?"

"Um, I was hoping you'd be able to fit me in?" 

I'd never actually been in a hairdressers before. My parents had never taken me, and the care workers had never bothered. 

"Well I have an hour, Honey. How does that sound?"

I turned to Frank and he nodded, "that sounds great."

"I wanna get my hair dyed," I told her, "and trimmed. Straightened too. Do hairdressers straighten hair?" The last part of my statement was directed at Frank, but the hairdresser answered.

"Once I've washed, dyed and cut your hair I can blow dry it straight for you."

I knew from the way Frank moved in the corner of my eye that he was holding back a snigger.  _So mature_ , I thought to myself. "That'd be great."

"What colour did you want to go?" She asked, gesturing to a chair in front of a mirror.

"Well I wanted to go purple, but I think it'd be too much -"

"Oh Honey, it definitely would. It would not compliment your face shape at all."

I touched my cheeks, "it wouldn't...?"

"No, not at all -"

Frank cut the hairdresser off, "I think you'll look beautiful no matter what, Cass."

It was a good job that Mikey hadn't returned from the parking machine yet. "Maybe I could just get it dip-dyed purple then?"

I'd read about dip-dyed hair on Tumblr. I'd seen pictures of it too, and it looked really pretty once it was done.

"Sure, what colour?" The hairdresser asked, taking my hair out of its braid and playing with it idly.

"Um, purple." I answered, "but like, a dark purple."

I had light brown hair naturally, so I was hoping it would look good. "I can do that for you. Wait here whilst I go and mix the dye -"

"Frank!" Mikey yelled, hurrying into the shop.

We turned to him in surprise, the hairdresser included. "Woh, what is it, Man?" Frank asked in surprise.

"Mob... fangirls... Starbucks... They're coming!"

"Well that made no sense." I looked at the hairdresser. "They're famous." I explained, "bassist and rhythm guitarist of  _My Chemical Romance_?"

She shrugged and walked off to the back room, probably to mix the dye. "Say it  _slowly_ , Mikey." Frank said, over emphasising  _slowly_ by drawing the word out and pinching his thumb and forefinger on either hand, and bringing them further apart from each other. 

"There's a mob of..." he trailed off, still trying to catch his breath. He'd obviously had to run from the mob, "of fangirls at Starbucks and they saw me... and now they're..." he took another few seconds to regain his breath, "coming here. We have to..." a few more breaths, "hide. They'll be here any minute!"

The hairdresser reappeared with a half-mixed bowl of dye in her hands. "There's a room out the back you can go in, but don't touch anything because some of that stuff is expensive."

"Thanks." Mikey went into the backroom.

"Lady, trust me. If we break anything, we'll pay for it." Frank said as he disappeared too.

The hairdresser came and stood behind me, mixing the dye up for a few seconds before speaking, "friends of your's?"

"My adoptive uncle, and my -" I cut myself off. I had almost said  _boyfriend_ , "adoptive dad's friend." I paused, "well they're all friends because they're all in the same band." I paused again, "I'm out with Frank and Mikey today because my dad and his other friend are planning something at our house tonight. Frank and Mikey took me shopping and now we're here."

She smiled, "sounds fun... you ready?" I nodded and watched her silently in the mirror as she put the dye on the ends of my hair.


	17. Chapter 17

"You're early!" Gee exclaimed in surprise as he saw me get out of the driver's seat of my Audi, Frank out of the passenger seat and Mikey out of the backseat.

Mikey shrugged, "sorry, Gee. Couldn't keep her away any longer."

Gerard smiled at me and gave me a short, sweet hug. "D'ya have a good day?" I nodded and beamed at him, he caught the ends of my hair in his fingers, "wow, love your hair. That hairdresser's good, I'll have to go see her myself. Where'd you go?"

"Um, one near the mall, I think." I answered, "I dunno though. You should probably ask Mikey -"

"Did you finish the thing?" Frank asked quietly, leaning close to Gee's ear so he could whisper.

"Right it's all done, Gee -" Ray cut himself off when he saw us outside. He'd come out right on cue - it was almost as if he'd heard what Frank had said to Gerard.

Gerard turned to him, "that's great." He gave Ray a thumbs up and then turned to me, "people'll start arriving soon, are you wearing that?" We looked down at the dress that Frank had bought me earlier. I had  _insisted_ on wearing it (much to Mikey's disdain). 

I nodded, "that's okay, isn't  it?"

He nodded and smiled warmly, "yeah. You look beautiful."

"That's what  _I_ said," Frank agreed, grinning at me and dropping me a wink when only I could see him.

"Well when people start arriving, I want you to answer the door, 'kay?"

I shrugged and nodded, "sure but I dunno why."

Gee turned to Frank and held out a black silk scarf to him. "Fold this up like a blindfold and put it on her. Take her up to her room, don't let her take it off. When the doorbell rings,  _slowly_ walk her down the stairs and open it just when she's in front of the door. Then let her open it. Okay?"

Frank nodded and took the scarf, turning to me. "Right, Cass," he folded the scarf up lengthways, "come here."

I walked over to him and turned my back to him so he could tie the scarf around my eyes. In truth, I was a little excited by the prospect of  _Frank_ putting the blindfold on, but I didn't let it show. 

 

He led me upstairs and into my room. I didn't know my room well enough to know  _exactly_ where to step to avoid furniture, but Frank helped me to steer myself, and he pushed me onto the bed. "We're all alone..." he trailed off seductively, and I fought the urge to take the blindfold off, "for a while, at least."

I giggled, "eleven, Frank." I told him, "remember?"

He pushed me backwards again so I was back and stood in between my legs before he laid down on top of me and began to kiss me, sending shivers down my spine. "But I didn't know I'd," he paused to kiss my lips, "get you to my," another kiss, another pause, "self so soon, Kitten."

I giggled against him, "eleven. Behind Gee's shed, Frank. We're not doing this now."

"But at eleven...?" He trailed off hopefully, leaving the question open to interpretation.

"We'll see." I replied seductively.

He moaned a little and kissed me again before standing back up to his full height (which didn't make much of a difference) and taking my hand, helping me to sit up. "By the way, have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"

I shook my head, "I don't think you have." He'd told me at least four times, though I hadn't tired of hearing him say it.

"Well you look fucking delicious." He kissed the top of my head and I let my body fall against his. Frank wrapped his arms around me and held me close, resting his chin on the top of my head, "you're hair smells delicious."

I laughed quietly, "it's the shampoo and conditioner the hairdresser used -"

"If food smelt as good as you, Kitten, I'd be overweight." I laughed, though I wasn't sure if I was supposed to, "I was being serious."

I hoped he was pouting. He was cute when he pouted. "Frankie," I cooed, moving my head so (if my eyes had been uncovered) I was looking up at him, "I want you to say it."

"Say what?" He lifted the scarf from my eyes and I saw a confused look on his face.

"Gee said not to take it off -"

"Gee would probably tell me to not kiss his daughter." I smiled.

"Probably," I agreed, "but I want you to say it."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Kitten -"

I cut him off, "you should know what I want you to say, Frank. I know we've only known each other for a day, but I think you should say it. I'm not going to say it first, but I'm not going to sleep with you -"  
" _Sleep with me_?!" He exclaimed in surprise, though he wasn't very loud.

"That's what you want me to do tonight, isn't it?" I asked.

"Well yes, but -"

"Then  _say_ it, Frank Iero." I said, practically begging him to say the three simple words...  _I love you_.

But he looked blank. I sighed. "I dunno what you want me to say -"

I felt like crying. "Frank! You should know what I want you to say!" 

"But -"

"And I am  _not_ sleeping with you until you say it." I reached a hand up to my blindfold and yanked it back down over my eyes angrily, and threw my body backwards into the soft mattress of my bed. I was angry at him, and he didn't even understand why!

"Say what?!" He asked loudly, "come on, Cass. I dunno what I'm supposed to be saying." He sounded so desperate and so sad... I almost wanted to take him into my arms... but I resisted, instead crossing my arms against my chest.

"Well then I guess you'd better find some other girl to fuck until you do." I retorted, wanting nothing more than to be kissed by him.  _No, Cass! Stay strong! If he doesn't even know what he's supposed to be saying then he obviously isn't worth it_.

My thoughts were cut off by the sound of the doorbell.

 


	18. Chapter 18

I pulled my blindfold off, and opened the door, a grumpy Frankn standing behind me with his arms crossed. "F... Fall...  _Fall Out Boy_!?" I exclaimed, as I saw four men standing on the front door step.

Patrick Stump grinned, "you must be Cassia. Nice to meet you." He held out a bunch of purple roses to me.

"Where'd you...  _purple roses_?!" I took them, smiling. I put them to my nose and smelt them - they smelt amazing.

"Had them specially done, just for Cassia Way." Joe Trohman answered, "is she here?" He smirked.

"I'm Cass Way!" I exclaimed happily. "Oh my God, I cannot believe that  _Fall Out Boy_ are here!"

"We got invited to the party." Pete Wentz told me.

I turned to Frank, "party?"

He shrugged, obviously still mad at me but trying not to show it in front of Pete, Andy, Joe and Patrick. "Gee planned it as a surprise. He wanted to show you off... and give you the chance to meet all of your favourite bands."

"So that means -?" He cut me off.

" _Sleeping With Sirens_ ,  _Mindless Self Indulgence_ ,  _Panic! At The Disco_ ,  _Paramore_ ,  _Against The Current_..." he trailed off, "they're all coming!"

I screamed, and Fall Out Boy laughed at my outburst.

"Oh my fucking God!" I yelled in happiness. I turned back to the band, "come in! Come in!"

"Gee's in the back yard with Ray, I think." Frank told them, "go through to the kitchen, grab some drinks and make yourself at home."

"Thanks," Andy pushed his way past Patrick, Pete and Joe and into the house, heading towards the kitchen.

Patrick and Joe followed him, but Pete looked at me. "Do you want a drink?"

"I, uh..." I trailed off, "I guess I'd have to ask Gee first, but I don't think he'd mind."

He grinned, "great." Pete held an arm out to me and I took it, grinning like an enchanted ape, "we'll go find him."

"Pete!" Patrick yelled from the kitchen, poking his head round the door and smiling at us, "you coming?"

"Just a sec, Babe!" He called back, looking at me.

My eyes went wide and I smirked. "Peterick...?" 

"It's real." He whispered in my ear. 

I giggled, and saw a jealous look on Frank's face.  _Good, if he wants to be a dick and not know what I want him to say, then he'll have to deal with me flirting with other people. Well, not really flirting with Pete because Peterick is real!_

"Frank, I'll be with Pete. I'm good. You don't have to watch me." Reluctantly, he turned and walked away, into the living room which adjoined to the kitchen.

Pete looked at me suspiciously, "what was that all about?"

I shrugged, "Frank's..." I trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it,  _a completely clueless asshole?_ "A little overprotective."

Pete nodded, "right. Um, so let's go find Gee?" He phrased it as a question. 

I nodded and led him out to the back yard, finding Gee sitting on a nine-seater rattan furniture set with Mikey. The two seemed to be deep in conversation, but nonetheless I approached him and waited patiently for them to finish. He looked up at me almost immediately, however, grinning. "D'ya like your surprise, Cass?"

I nodded and looked at Pete, who's arm I was still holding, "I love it." I let go of Pete and gave Gee a huge hug, "thanks Gee."

"No problem, Cass." 

I beamed at him, "um, Pete asked if I wanted a drink but I wasn't sure if I was allowed -"

He cut me off. "I'm gonna trust you to be responsible tonight, Cassia. Drink as much - or as little - as you see fit. You're almost eighteen, so why not? But if you fuck up then it'll be hard to earn the trust back." I nodded and hugged him again before taking Pete's arm once more.

"Drinks?" He asked brightly, giving me a naughty smile.

I nodded, "drinks." I agreed as he led me back to the kitchen.

* * * * *

"So am I allowed to ask a question?" I asked Patrick as I slowly sipped from a bottle of raspberry cider, Patrick Stump sitting opposite me nursing a can of beer.

"Only if I can ask you one after." 

I shrugged. "Sure."

"So what's your question then?"

"So Peterick's a real thing..." I trailed off, "have you ever read fanfiction on yourselves?"

Patrick blushed, "fanfiction..." he breathed out a sigh, "it's a guilty pleasure of mine. But I don't really read Peterick. It's weird to read about yourself." He paused, "you'll understand soon. Once you've tweeted a little bit and been seen at some shows and functions, people'll probably start writing fanfiction about you too. Are you going to read fanfiction about yourself?" I shook my head, "it'd be weird, right?" I nodded, "that's exactly what I mean."

"So what fanfiction do you read then?"

"Well, sometimes Star Wars -"

" _Star Wars_?!" I exclaimed in surprise.

He nodded, "and sometimes Trohley."

"You ship Trohley?" I smiled, "that's amazing! So do I!"

"Now can I ask you a question?" I nodded, "what's your favourite  _Fall Out Boy_ song? Your dad said you liked us, and I'm just curious."

"I have a few." I admitted, "I like  _Saturday_ ,  _Sugar We're Going Down and_ _A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me. And Thnks Fr Th Mmrs, and 20 Dollar Nosebleed, What A Catch, Donnie and Uma Thurman, American Beauty / American Psycho, Save Rock and Roll, The Phoenix_ ," I paused, "am I boring you?" I asked worriedly.

He shook his head, "no, of course not. Keep going, Cassia."

"You can just call me Cass." I told him warmly, "and I also love  _Young Volcanoes, Alone Together, Heaven's Gate, Church, Expensive Mistakes, Last Of The Real Ones_." 

He grinned, "a lot of our songs then?" 

I laughed, "yeah. I  _love_ Fall Out Boy."

"You wanna dance?" Joe asked, I went to reply with a 'yes' but heard the doorbell.

"Joe, I'd love to, but I have to answer the door. Gee said." 

He smiled anyway, "don't worry then. Maybe later?" 

I nodded, "definitely." I got up and went to the front door.


	19. Chapter 19

"Kellin Quinn..." I didn't know what else to say. "You're..." I looked at the rest of  _Sleeping With Sirens_ , "holy motherfucking christ." I put a hand to my head. "Oh my God!"

Kellin and Gabe laughed. "Cass, right?" I nodded, "nice to meet you." Kellin grinned at me as he spoke, "the guys and me, we, uh... well we got you this." He turned to Nick and held out his hand. Nick handed him a parcel wrapped in deep purple paper. Kellin passed it to me and grinned, "you gonna open it!?"

I nodded and tore the paper off, and held the present up so it could unfold.  _Sleeping With Sirens_ had given me one of their shirts, though it had been signed by all members of the band, and all of the messages were personalised. "Aw, you didn't have to get me anything, Guys -"

Justin cut me off, "for Gee's kid? We'd do anything for you." He grinned at me.

I beamed at them, "there's drinks in the kitchen. Fall Out Boy's already here, just milling about. I think Joe and Patrick are in the kitchen though. Gee's out back with Mikey and Ray."  
"Thanks, Cass." Kellin said as he walked into the house, and the rest of the band followed him.

 

"Not late are we?" Jimmy Urine asked as he hurried up to the front door just before I closed it.

"Not at all." I grinned at him, "nice hair."

He smirked, "thanks, Kid. Uh, you're Gerard's, right?"

"I'm adopted." I elaborated, "but yeah."

"You're pretty," Lyn-Z said as she looked me up and down, "isn't she pretty, Kitty?"

"Gorgeous." Kitty agreed. "So have you and Gerard made out yet?"

I was offended. "I..." I trailed off, unsure of how to be rude enough to fuck her off, but not too rude because I didn't want to embarass Gee. Luckily, I didn't have to reply because Mikey was behind me, and had a hand on my shoulder.

"I seriously doubt she'd pick Gee over me." He smirked at Kitty, "but it's none of your business really, is it, Kitty?" He paused, "if you're going to start an argument then you can fuck off right now."

The rest of  _Mindless Self Indulgence_ all turned and looked at Kitty, daring her to answer back. She sighed, "I'm gonna go get a beer." 

She pushed past Mikey and me and went into the kitchen. "Sorry about her." Steve Righ said, "she's had a thing for Gerard  _forever_ , and he's never been interested in her."

I smiled nervously, "uh, no problem. Um, drinks are in the kitchen, Gee's out back with Ray.  _Fall Out Boy_ and  _Sleeping With Sirens_ are here too."

* * * * *

The next time I opened the door, I was on my second bottle of cidre, and had already taken two shots of bourbon with Kellin Quinn. "Uh," Dan Gow looked at me like I was an alien when I opened the door to him, Chrissy Costanza, and Will Ferri. "Hey. We're here for the party?"

I grinned, "it's my party."

"You're Cassia?!" Chrissy exclaimed as she threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and giving me (quite frankly) the best hug I have ever had in my whole life.

"Yeah."

"I'm Chrissy!" She looked at me, "we are going to be such good friends!"

I grinned at her, "I look forward to it." I had always loved Chrissy, and enjoyed reading fanfiction about her. She had always sounded cool to be friends with.

"I'm Dan," Dan held out his hand, and I awkwardly shook it, Chrissy moved out of the way but still stood beside me. "This is Will," he jerked a thumb back at Will, who gave me a little wave.

"Hey, Will. Hey, Dan." I paused, "come in." 

 

"Uh, Brent and Spencer couldn't come. They had some, uh..." Brendon Urie trailed off and blushed, "they had some girlfriend trouble."

I shrugged and smiled at him. He was so cute, and the way he was clutching onto Ryan Ross' hand for dear life was adorable. "Don't worry 'bout it," I paused, "I'm Cass. Panic! have been one of my favourites for a while."

"Yeah, your dad was saying." Ryan said, "we're glad you like our music. It's always nice to meet a fan -"

"Shots!" Pete called from the kitchen. I turned to the kitchen and then back to  _Panic! At The Disco_. 

"Wanna do shots?"

Dallon Weekes grinned at me, "let's go! Race ya!" He sprinted into the house and I ran after him, finding it hard to run elegantly in heels and a dress, but not caring at all.

* * * * *

When Gerard came into the kitchen, Pete was in the middle of making me a Jagerbomb. I turned to him guiltily, "oh hey, Gee -"

"Hey Cass. How you doing?"

"Good."

"Having fun?"

I turned to Pete who was smirking at me like a naughty school boy. "Duh." I wasn't sarcastic, I just had a tone in my voice that implied my answer should have been obvious.

"That's great. But listen,  _Paramore_ aren't going to be able to -" he cut himself off when he saw Lyn-Z walking into the kitchen from the living room where she and Jimmy Urine had been talking. "Hey, Lindsey."

She smiled at him and he blushed, "hey, Gerard." She paused, "wanna come dance with me in the garden?"

He nodded, "anyways, Cass,  _Paramore_ aren't going to be able to make it. Sorry."

"That's okay. I have Pete, Patrick, Kellin and Chrissy to keep me company." The four of them raised their Jagerbombs and cheered before knocking them back.

Gee chuckled and then followed Lindsey out into the back garden. I turned to my drinking buddies. "You weren't supposed to shoot without me," I pouted, though smirking a little, "guess I'll have to drink this and then we'll have another one."

They cheered again and chanted my name as I knocked my Jagerbomb back. "We're going to be completely and utterly wasted by the time tomorrow comes!" Chrissy exclaimed in happiness and excitement as she put a hand on my shoulder, "woo!"

"I wanna get drunk too!" Mikey whined as he found a small space between Pete and Kellin, he squeezed in. "Make me a bomb as well, Pete!"

Pete did as he was instructed and started to pour out redbull for six fresh Jagerbombs.


	20. Chapter 20

Three hours and six shots later, I was completely incapacitated, but I knew it was eleven o'clock, and I knew that I had somewhere to be.  _Where_ that somewhere was, I had no idea, but I knew it had something to do with somebody important.  _Oh shit, Cass_ , I yelled at myself,  _you've really fucked up this time! Somebody's waiting for you and you don't know where or who. Nice one_.

I sighed and said goodbye to an extremely drunken Pete (who kept trying to get off with Patrick on Gee's couch - nice one, guys), and hurried out into the garden, figuring that that was where I would find most people from the party.

I looked around and had a moment of sobriety.  _The shed, behind Gee's shed. That's where I'm supposed to meet..._ my mind was blank as to who I was meeting, but at least I knew where.

I hurried behind the shed furthest from the party, and waited, leaning against the back of it, trying to remember who I'd promised to meet.

"Cassia?" I turned and saw Mikey standing between the fence and the shed, obviously drunk, and perhaps more so than I was.

"Moikey..." I couldn't say his name right. God, I sounded like Gee in  _Vampire Money_.

"What are you -" he hiccuped, "shit." He hiccuped again, "doing behind -" hiccup, "here?"

"I, um, I'm supposed to be meeting somebody, but I can't remember who." I answered, having to think very carefully about every single word.

"Meeting someone?" Mikey raised an eyebrow, which was quite comical because he was drunk, "who'd meet behind Gerd's shed?" 

I giggled, he couldn't even say his brother's name, instead pronouncing it as 'Jar-d'. "I dunno. I can't remember -"

He slipped into the space beside me and put a hand on my hip, steadying me. I hadn't realised I'd been shaking. "You're cold?"

I shook my head, "no. I -" 

He cut me off with his lips on my own, pushing me back slightly and deepening the kiss, holding me against the wall and keeping my head against the shed with the fervor with which he was kissing me.

He pulled away and I opened my eyes.  _I wish I hadn't enjoyed that as much as I had_. "Do you maybe wanna..." he bit his lip, "you're Gee's adoptive daughter. You're not his  _real_ daughter. It makes it legal, doesn't it?"

I shrugged. I couldn't remember. "I don't know." I whispered to him.

"Do you want to go upstairs?" I nodded slowly and he led me out, and gently pushed me in front of him so he could catch me if I fell (I assumed). I led him into the house and into the hallway, thankful that nobody said anything to me or him on the way, and even more thankful when I saw that Pete was passed out on Patrick who was also asleep on the living room settee, and the house was silent barring the kitchen where there were a few people grabbing drinks.

I led Mikey up to a spare room on the third floor of the house, a room which I'd never been in before. "In here..." I opened the door and walked inside, waiting for him to push me onto the bed and have his way with me.

 

At first he cornered me, kissing me so much it took my breath away, and then he grabbed my ass and began to massage it, spanking it once, motioning for me to wrap my legs around waist. I did that, and he carried me over to the bed, settled me down in the middle of it and crawled on top of me, grinding against me as he brought his hands to the hem of my dress and tugged it up a few centimetres, just enough to get to my black panties which I had bought from the foster home (I hadn't wanted Gee to take me underwear shopping - that would be just  _too_ embarrassing... and the fangirls would have a field day)

I moaned against him as he began to rub me through the panties, and I felt his boner against me, even through the tough black denim skinny jeans that he was wearing. My hands found their way to the buttons and his flies and I undid them, pulling his jeans down, though when I got to his boner I stopped. I didn't want to  _hurt_ him. "Mikey..." I moaned, "jeans..."

He chuckled against me and pulled his jeans down his legs and kicked them onto the floor, also kicking off his shoes before he turned back to me and carried on kissing me, making me feel a heat in my nether regions that I hadn't felt before. He slipped his finger past the fabric of my panties and began to feel me, running his finger around and about my entrance before finally inserting it in, making me gasp and moan in pain and pleasure. "You sure you want this?" He whispered in my ear as he left my mouth alone and began to suck around my neck. I nodded and whimpered. "Two." He inserted another digit and started to make scissor motions with his fingers, making me squirm and tears come to my eyes. "Tell me to stop if I hurt you..."

I didn't tell him to stop. Eventually, he got bored of pleasuring me and he stripped my panties off, and pulled his boxers down. "Oh God..." I felt his cock touch me, already slicked with precum and it drove me mad.

"This might hurt, Baby." He whispered in my ear once more as he put his hands either side of me, supporting himself, "I dunno if you're a virgin or not, but -"

"I am." I told him.

His breath was sweet, and made me feel safe. On it I smelt peppermint, tobacco and booze. It gave me goosebumps. "Ready...?" He dipped in and then pulled out quickly, teasing me, and waiting for my answer.

"Just fuck me already!" I cried out, not meaning to be so loud, but just wanting him inside of me.

Mikey nibbled my ear as he pushed into me. I moaned out loudly and groaned, trying my hardest not to scream, but fuck it  _hurt_. He was still for a minute as he waited for me to quiet. "Shall I move...?" I nodded, and he began to pulled out of me. As I felt his dick leaving me, I felt empty, and I realised that I was  _enjoying_ this. He went back into me and I let out a sigh of ecstasy, and a moan as his pace quickened. "You like that, Baby?" He was picking up pace, making me feel so good that I felt a heat building in the pit of my stomach. I was moaning, and crying out his name as I saw white spots appear in my field of vision. "Hmmm, you feel good." He kissed my lips again and slipped his hands under my dress, which he had not bothered to take off of me. "You feel  _amazing_."

The heat in my stomach was becoming too much to bear, and I let myself go.  _Oh fuck. I'd just orgasmed_.  _It had felt amazing_.

He chuckled, "you're enjoying yourself... that's good." He paused, "so am I." He had exceptional control of himself, because at that moment he let go of himself inside of me, and I felt myself fill up more than I thought was possible. Mikey Way had just ejaculated inside of me. I knew that much, though I realised in my drunken haze that perhaps letting Mikey Way fuck me hadn't been my  _best idea_ ever... but the sex had been amazing, and as he pulled out of me and lay down beside me on the bed, I couldn't help but smile. Mikey Way had just fucked me.  _Mikey Way had just fucked me_.


	21. Chapter 21

I woke up, though it was dark outside and there was no noise in the rest of the house that carried up to the bedroom... there was no Mikey beside me either.  _Fuck, Mikey!_ I yelled at myself, not sure whether I was calling for him or because I'd just had sex with him. "Mikey...?" I knew it was futile, because I knew he'd already gone. Probably in search of Gee, or another bed so he didn't wake up beside me. I groaned.  _How can I have been so stupid!? I slept with Mikey Way. Gee's brother_.  _Fuck_. 

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, and felt the famed hangover already hanging over me. I stood up and hobbled over to the light switch, flicking it on and sighing once more when I saw that all of Mikey's clothes were gone. A part of me had been wishing that he'd only stepped out momentarily, to go to the bathroom or something similar to that. But he was gone. I wanted to go down and get myself a glass of water and something for my headache, so I looked about the room for my panties. I couldn't find them anywhere, eventually looking under the bed to see if Mikey had somehow kicked them under there, but they were gone. 

My phone buzzed. I went over to the bed and rooted through the bed sheets and blankets in search of it. When I found it, I saw I had one message from Mikey.

_Mikey : Looking for these?_

_< cannot open file  >_

I sighed and sent him back a message.

_Me : Mikey, I need those. Why do you have them!?_

_Mikey : A souvenir of our time together ;)_

_Me : I can't go downstairs commando!_

_Mikey : I'm downstairs. Doesn't seem like such a bad idea to me ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯_

_Me : I'm gonna go to my room get a clean pair, then I'll be down. Have a glass of water and some aspirin ready for me._

When I made it downstairs, Mikey was in the kitchen with a bottle of vodka to his lips. I took it from him. "Why've you got this?!" I hissed, well aware that I had seen Pete, Patrick, Jimmy, Kellin, Nick and Joe all passed out in the living room as I'd walked through it.

"Hair of the dog." Mikey shrugged as if his answer should have been obvious, "takes the hangover away."

I looked at the vodka suspiciously and narrowed my eyes. "Does it really?" He nodded, and I took a swig from the bottle. He was right. Almost immediately it took away my headache and made me feel better.

"You're still awake?" Gee asked in surprise as he hurried into the kitchen.

I turned to him, "uh... yeah. Mikey and me were just grabbing a drink then -"

"It's two in the morning, Cass." Gee told me, "you're drinking vodka?"

I bit my lip and handed the bottle of vodka back to Mikey. "No. Um, I had a headache and Mikey said it was a hangover and apparently if you drink a little bit of alcohol it'll make it feel better." I looked at Mikey, silently begging him to go along with the story, though the basic storyline was true, "what did you call it? Hair of the dog?" 

Mikey nodded. "Hair of the dog. Yeah. That's right."

Gee shrugged, "you're almost an adult, I can't stop you from drinking." He gave me a kiss on my forehead and then grabbed some food from the fridge, and an unopened bottle of wine from the table, "get some sleep. Night."

Mikey and me watched him go. "Who's he in bed with?" I asked, "no way he's going to eat all of that food and drink a whole bottle of food before he goes to sleep -"

"I think I saw him with Lindsey -"

"No way." I paused, " _Lindsey_?" Mikey nodded, "from  _Mindless Self Indulgence_?" He nodded again. "That's funny. And cute. They're actually perfect for each other. Don't ya think?"

"They are pretty cute," Mikey agreed as he kissed the tip of my nose, "but then so are you. Night, Cass." He turned and walked back into the hallway and up the stairs, presumably back to the bedroom.

Well there was no way I was going back there. Not because I didn't want to see him, but because I knew that if he woke up in the morning beside me, he'd be confused, and I knew he remembered what we'd done... I just wanted him to wake up clueless for a few seconds... I wanted to let him ponder what had happened.

Sighing, I ventured back up to my own bedroom. When I opened the door, I saw there were two people in my bed, though they both appeared to be closed. As I neared them, I saw it was Chrissy and Frank, and they both looked so peaceful.

I nudged Chrissy awake, quickly putting a finger to my lips, motioning for her to be quiet.

"Why're you in bed with Frank?" I whispered, "more importantly, why're you in  _my_ bed with Frank?"

She wiped the sleep from her eyes and groaned quietly when she saw Frank. "Well he wasn't here when I went to sleep!" She whisper-exclaimed, "and I'm only in here because I didn't think you'd mind."

I shrugged, "not at all." I paused, "but I do want to get in. So you can either roll over, or let me climb over you."

Chrissy paused to think for a second, "climb over me... but try not to put any pressure on anywhere that'd hurt... if you touch my boobs then I think I'll scream." 

I giggled, and she laid an arm across her breasts protectively. I got into bed beside her and Frank, and turned over so I was facing Frank... who was also facing me. Our noses were practically touching, and I could feel his breath on my lips. "Night, Chrissy."

"Night, Cass." She whispered back. A few minutes later her breathing steadied and she was silent.

 _Maybe you were a little bit hard on him before, Cassia._ I told myself, reasoning that he looked so peaceful in sleep I'd like to wake up naked in front of him just once.  _You could just tell him what you want him to say... but then he should know, right? Doesn't every guy know what a girl wants to hear? Well, that's kind of sexist, but he should have known... but look at his eyelashes! And his nose! And he snores ever so softly... he's beautiful_. I wanted to shout at myself. My mind was winning the fight of 'to fuck or not to fuck'.  _As soon as he goes home tomorrow, you're going to call him and tell him you wanna have sex... or at least hint at it... and then you're going to spout some bullshit to Gee, and get in your car and drive to his house._

I smiled at the thought. Tomorrow, if I had any luck, I was going to be fucked by Frank Iero.  _You're such a slut!_ Oh great, now my conscience was getting involved,  _you just had sex with Mikey Way, and now you want Frank?!_


	22. Chapter 22

When I arose from my slumber, I was in an uncomfortable position on uncomfortable terrain. I groaned and rolled over, opening my eyes and was greeted with the harsh sunlight. 

"Why the fuck am I in the car?" I grumbled as I fought the urge to close my eyes again.

"Because we're taking you out for breakfast." I sat up a little and saw Patrick Stump, whose hands were resting over my legs which were in his lap.

"Sorry it's early, but Chrissy said there'd be less people out for breakfast if we left early." My head had apparently been in Pete Wentz's lap, and I had been sleeping facedown. Fuck. It was lucky he was gay.

"No I didn't!" Chrissy defended from the other side of the limousine, "morning by the way, Cass." She paused, "that was Frank."

Frank had been sitting between Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz, and he had the top part of my torso in his lap. I looked to see who else I was asleep on, and saw Kellin grinning at me.

"Hey." He touched his thumb and forefinger to his forehead and saluted me, "sleep well?"

I sat up, accidentally sitting in Kellin's lap. I laughed nervously, "yeah. It was, um... well I've never woken up on top of four guys before."

Chrissy, Pete, Frank, Kellin and Patrick laughed. "Come sit over here with me, Cass." Chrissy patted the seat beside her and I got up, making my way over to her, and falling into the seat as the limousine turned the corner (slightly faster than was probably legal).

"Does Gee know you've kidnapped me?" I asked suspiciously, looking down at my now-wrinkled dress that I'd been wearing the night before... and then it came back to me.  _Mikey came back to me_.

"Yeah," Kellin shrugged, "he said to have fun, and he gave us some money for your breakfast."

"Lindsey helped me to pick out some clothes for you to wear." Chrissy gestured to a pile of fabric in the corner of the limousine. There was a pair of black timberland boots sitting beside the fabric, "she's so nice."

"Oh God," Patrick laughed.

"Here she goes again." Frank rolled his eyes.

"What?" I asked.

"Chrissy has talked about two things since we left your house. Dan Gow and Lindsey Ballato." Pete told me.

I turned to her, "that could be...  _interesting_." 

Chrissy cracked a smile, but my innuendo had the four guys laughing. "Chris, does Dan know you like him?" Frank asked.

"I don't  _like_ him," Chrissy answered defensively, "he's just a close friend -"

"That you wanna fuck." Patrick clapped a hand to his mouth, "oopsie. Didn't mean to be rude."

"Trick, it's fine. These two are probably dirtier than the four of us put together." Pete said, jerking a thumb at us, looking at his boyfriend.

Kellin bit his bottom lip suggestively, looking me up and down, "oh I doubt that." He said, "I'm pretty dirty... you just have to get me in the mood."

I blushed a little, and hoped that nobody noticed... especially not Frank. I wanted things to be good today.

"Well we're here." I looked up in surprise and saw that Jimmy Urine was driving the limousine, but it made me laugh because Jimmy was just so  _un-chauffeur-like_ that it was comical.

I looked out the window and grinned. "McDonalds?!" 

I hadn't been to a McDonalds since before my parents died. Frank nodded, "we're gonna get out and let you get changed. The windows are completely one way - you can see out but we can't see in - so don't worry."

I smiled, "thanks, guys." 

They all got out, but Chrissy remained sitting. "Mind if I stay?"

"You wanna see me getting changed?" The thought worried me a little.

She laughed and shook her head, "no, of course not! But you might need some help, and you're definitely going to need somebody to tell you that you look good, and I don't think you'll want me giving you sexy comments in front of the guys." 

"Sexy comments?" I raised an eyebrow, "like what?"

"Like,  _oh my God, Cass. You are f-u-c-k-a-b-l-e_." We laughed in chorus with another. "And don't worry, I'll turn away when you switch your underwear."

* * * * *

I was dressed now, I was just lacing up my boots. It had taken me less than ten minutes to get changed completely, though I felt naked without deodorant and perfume. Chrissy had brought my hairbrush which I was grateful for, but she'd neglected the necessities... make up. 

"How do I look?" 

"If I was Kellin I'd jump you right here, right now." I must have looked horrified, because she tried to back track. "I only mean... oh fuck... um, Kellin keeps giving you the goo-goo eyes, puppy-dog look, and I'm pretty sure that he was enjoying you sleeping on him -"

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed in surprise, "Kellin  _likes_ me?" I whispered the final part of my statement. Chrissy nodded. "Fuck." I sat down on the seat opposite her. "Fuck me. Why is my life so fucking complicated?!"  
Chrissy was silent, but she got up and sat beside me. "How is your life complicated?" She asked, "you're Cassia fucking Way, your dad is Gerard Way, your uncle is Mikey Way and you get to see Ray and Frank whenever. Your dad throws you cool parties and invites your favourite bands -"

I burst into tears. Chrissy put her arms around me. "Oh it's just so -!" I cut myself off because I couldn't describe it. There wasn't one word to describe how fucked up I was feeling right now.

"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have ever said anything -" she put her arms around me, but I cut her off by sobbing loudly.

"No, no. You didn't do anything!" 

There was a knock on the window. "Is everything okay in there, Chrissy?" It was Jimmy.

"Yeah, everything's fine, Jimmy! Just, uh..." she trailed off, "girl stuff! You guys go on ahead! We might be a while!" Chrissy called back. 

"But we came to have breakfast with Cassia." Kellin complained.

"So go sign some autographs then!" She paused, "go do something, but we might be a while! So stop complaining!" She turned back to me and held me close, stroking the hair back on my head, "what's so fucked up about your life then, Cass?" Chrissy asked.

"I..." I trailed off.  _Are you really about to tell Chrissy - who, by the way, is almost a complete stranger - about what happened with you and Mikey, and how you feel about Frank!?_ "You have to promise not to tell anybody. Because I think this next bit is illegal."

Chrissy bit her lip and then nodded. "Okay. I promise. I don't care if it's illegal, I won't tell anybody."

I checked to see if everybody was gone. I didn't want them to overhear what had happened, or why my life was so fucked up. "Last night..." I sobbed, "at the party... I had sex with Mikey."

Chrissy was silent. "Is that it...?"

"And I love Frank!" I cried. "I've kissed him and he  _wanted_ me yesterday, but I wanted him to tell me that he loved me but he didn't know I wanted him to say it and I got mad at him because he didn't know and -"

"Did you have sex with Mikey just to get back at Frank?" She asked simply, obviously trying to keep a judging tone out of her voice and away from the question.

"No... yes... I dunno! I was drunk! It was kind of an accident -"

" _Kind of_?" Chrissy echoed, "you said you loved Frank! Just because you were drunk doesn't mean you can sleep with whoever," she sighed, "trust me, I learnt that the hard way -"

"I love Frank," I told her, "but I have feelings for Mikey and -"

"Look," she held me at arms length and looked into my eyes, "you have to be clean with yourself about this. Did you enjoy it with Mikey?" I nodded, "was it better than it would be with Frank?"

"I don't know, Chrissy! Mikey was my first and -"

" _Mikey Way took your fucking virginity_?!" Chrissy exclaimed, before quickly apologising in a whisper in case anybody around the car heard us, "Mikey Way took your fucking virginity?" She whispered this.

I nodded. "Mikey Way took my fucking virginity." I repeated.

"Shit."

"Shit." I agreed.

"Are you gonna have sex with Frank?" I looked at her in surprise. I felt like she was putting my problem into simple terms, and I was pleased because she seemed to be doing it so easily. I doubted I could have put it so easily.

"I want to." I admitted a little sheepishly, "and so does Frank -"

"It's illegal. And it was with Mikey. You're... you're seventeen, right?" I nodded, "you're underaged."

"You promised you wouldn't tell anybody -"

"And I won't." She promised me, grabbing the hairbrush from the pile and gesturing for me to turn round so she could brush my hair, "but you have to figure this out... and keep it a secret! Frank and Mikey could go to prison for it! MCR would be ruined, and people would blame you." Chrissy wasn't very good at consoling people. I knew that much. "I didn't mean to make you cry again!" She said, "I was just..." she trailed off and put the hairbrush down, "you're beautiful, and I don't blame Frank and Mikey for liking you... but you have to be careful. For their sake, for your's and for MCR." I nodded slowly. "And you have to keep me updated on the drama." 

I smiled a little, "okay."

"I don't want to have to turn up at your house begging for updates." She grinned and held her phone out to me, "put your number in." I did as she told me to and handed it back to her. "Come on. We should be going. They'll wonder what we were talking about."

I threw my arms around her and squeezed her tightly. I'd known her for less than twelve hours, but already Chrissy was my best friend. I'd never had somebody who cared for me like she had so far. "Thanks, Chrissy." I whispered in her ear.

There was a knock on the window. "Hey!" It was Pete this time, "quit making out and come order some food! We're hungry!"

Patrick opened the door of the limousine and held it open for us to get out. I smiled at Chrissy and walked over to Frank, "can we talk a little later?" I asked him quietly as we walked a few steps ahead of everybody else.

He nodded, "sure."

"I'm sorry for yesterday." I said, "I overreacted, and that's what I want to talk about." 

Frank grinned at me, "I guess you could come over later..." he trailed off and leaned closer to me, and I suddenly felt all too conscious of Kellin's gaze on my back, "we just won't tell Gerard."

I nodded. It felt like I'd done a lot of that this morning, "okay. Yeah. Sounds good. I'll say I'm going out to see a friend or something..." I trailed off, "but I don't really want to start lying to him. He's the first person in a long time who's cared about me, and I don't want to break his trust."

Frank smiled encouragingly at me as he held the door to McDonalds open for me and the rest of us. I waited for the others to walk ahead of me and I hung back to speak to him. "He won't find out." Frank promised, "I think he's got a new girlfriend."

"A new girlfriend?" I echoed, "who?"

"Lindsey from  _Mindless Self Indulgence_." Frank shrugged as he led me up to the counter, "you met her last night, remember?"

"Of course I remember her." I answered, looking at the menu which was above the heads of the employees behind the counter, "she's amazing. I'm glad Gee's got someone and that he's happy -"

"Can I take your order please?"

I looked at Frank, "what are you getting?" He shrugged.

"I dunno, I'm not a -"

" _Frank_..." I cut him off from swearing just in time.

"Um, pancakes with syrup, I guess. No patty." He pulled a disgusted face, "and I'll have a banana milkshake."

"For  _breakfast_?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I'll have two." He held up two fingers to the woman before he turned to me, "then you can try one."

"And if I don't like it then you just bought an entire milkshake for nothing."

"If you don't drink it then I will." Kellin volunteered from behind us.

I turned to him in surprise. "Where'd you come from?"

He shrugged, "toilet."

"What you having, Cass?" Frank asked me, waiting expectantly for my order.

"I dunno." I paused, "whatever you're having, I guess."

"Two pancake meals. Both without the pattys." The woman nodded and put the order through. Frank paid with cash.

"I could have paid for my own -"

"My treat." Frank flashed me a grin, "okay?"

I knew I couldn't object or it would look weird in front of Kellin. "Sure. Okay."

The woman handed Frank his receipt and gestured to the other side of the counter. "You can collect your order from there, Sir."

Frank and me walked over to the side of the restaurant to stand with Chrissy, Pete and Patrick whilst we waited for our food, and for Kellin to place his order.


	23. Chapter 23

"So have you got any plans for finishing school?" Pete asked me as I spread some syrup on my pancakes. 

"Um," I put the now-empty pot to one side, unsure of what to say, "I didn't really have a great school record before... and Gee hasn't said anything about it to me... so I guess not."

"So what do you want to do as a job then?" Patrick asked.

"Well this is gonna sound silly -"

"Mikey told me that when Gerard was younger he wanted to be an opera singer." Frank said as he shovelled half a pancake into his mouth, "bet it won't sound as silly as that."

Patrick was gingerly sipping some orange juice through a straw whilst he waited for me to reply. "Well I guess I want to be a comic book artist."

"Gee wants to do that too, doesn't he?" Kellin asked, looking at me and then Frank.

"Some shit like that." Frank shrugged, "but I bet you'd be good at it, Cass. Are you good at drawing?"

"To be an artist she has to be, right?" Chrissy asked.

"I'm going to get another coffee. Anybody want one?" Jimmy asked, standing up with his empty cardboard plate and piling any rubbish onto it that was within his reach.

"I'll have a coffee, Jimmy." Frank said as he too finished his pancakes and handed the empty box to Jimmy. "I want some more pancakes as well..." he trailed off, "I'll just come with you." Chrissy was sitting beside me, and I felt her nudge my foot with her own. I looked at her and she gave me a kind, encouraging smile.

"You should be a model," Chrissy said, grinning, "you're so pretty."

"Absolutely fucking beautiful." Kellin agreed, finishing his McMuffin. We all looked at him in surprise and suspicious. "What? I was just agreeing."

"Dude," Pete said, "you've been hitting on her all morning. Just leave it alone for like, five minutes."

Kellin blushed and started to play with the straw of his milkshake. I smiled at Pete.  _ Thanks _ , I mouthed.

"But if you really want to be a comic book artist then you have to get your art GCSE, and probably some art A-level and then go to art school."

"I know," I hung my head, "that's why I can't be a comic book artist. My attendance was so shitty, and I had bad grades and a bad record."

"Oh," Patrick was quiet, "well you can always come sing backup on some of our tracks, couldn't she, Pete?"

Pete nodded. "I bet you have a great singing voice." 

"Well, it's okay..." I said in a shy tone of voice.

"One day you can come over to the recording studio and we'll try it out." Chrissy said, rubbing my back with her hand.

"Try what out?" Frank asked as he dropped himself into the seat on my other side, the one which he'd recently vacated.

"Um, singing." I answered. "Chrissy said I could go over to the recording studio and try some singing."

"I'm sure Gerard would love that." Jimmy agreed, sitting back down with his fresh coffee, "he'd be so proud!"

"Excuse me?" We turned and saw a girl dressed in black with blue, green and purple hair and black eyeliner on. "Could I maybe get a picture with you?"

Everybody grinned, "sure." They chorused.

I stood up, "I'll get out of your way..." I mumbled, but Frank grabbed my arm and yanked me back to my seat. 

"You want a picture with Gerard Way's daughter in it, right?" Frank asked the girl, who looked to be a year or two younger than me.

" _ You're Cassia Way _ ?!" She exclaimed in happiness and excitement.

I nodded awkwardly, "yeah..."

"Okay, I want a separate picture with you!" I smiled as she took the selfie with us all in the background, pulling silly faces. Then she came over to me and I stood up so I could pose. I grinned, unable to believe that somebody wanted a picture with  _ me _ , and they wanted it with me more than they wanted one with Kellin, or Frank or Pete and Patrick. "Oh my gosh, thank you! If I tweet this later and tag you all in it, would you reply? Maybe follow me!?"

"If I see it then I'll like it and follow you." Chrissy promised.

"Same." I agreed.

"I don't really bother with Twitter much, but sure." Jimmy said as he drank from his coffee cup.

"If we see it, we'll follow you." Pete said, speaking for both himself and Patrick. I noticed they moved further apart when they were in public, and didn't cuddle up together like they did when they were in private places. It was cute. They wanted their relationship to be  _ their's  _ and only their's.

The girl was looking at Frank. "Frank?" He was drinking his milkshake. "Frank!?" I elbowed him.

"Ouch!" He exclaimed indignantly, causing the girl to burst into a fit of giggles.

"She asked you a question." Chrissy told him.

He tried to remember what the girl had said, but with little luck. "Um, yeah. Sure. Whatever." He bit his lip, "wait did I just consent to something that I shouldn't have?" He asked worriedly.

"No," Patrick said, "you only said you'd like and follow her account if she tagged you in the picture later on Twitter."

"Oh," Frank drank some more of his milkshake, "I guess that's not so bad then."

"So where's Gerard, Ray, Mikey, Dan, Will, Lindsey, Joe, Andy, Kitty, Nick, Gabe, Steve, Justin, Jack and -" I cut her off.

"They're all back at home, I think." I told her, looking at Pete to tell me when to stop telling the girl information about people's whereabouts, "we um, had a party last night and everybody came. Brendon, Ryan and Dallon were there as well."

"Oh wow!" The girl said, "that sounds like so much fun!" I could see now that she had braces. "Wish I was invited!"

Kellin laughed nervously. I had heard that he didn't like being round fans for too long because he always felt self-conscious and like he wasn't worth their appreciation. "Yeah, well. It would have been nice." I said quickly, trying to usher her away gently, "but we don't know you, so..." I turned to Kellin and gave an encouraging smile, "we'd really like to get back to our breakfast. Hope you don't mind -"

"Oh, no!" She said, "not at all! I'm so sorry for keeping you this long. Thank you!" She turned and ran back to her mum who was watching us from the other side of the restaurant.

"You'll have your own fanfiction tag by tonight." Patrick grinned, referring to the conversation we'd had last night, "just you wait and see." 

I laughed and finished my pancakes, grabbing the banana milkshake which Frank had brought me and I'd decided that I liked. "Weirdly enough, I want to read fanfiction about myself."

Chrissy laughed, "you won't be saying that once you've read it."


	24. Chapter 24

Jimmy dropped us all back at Gee's house. I grabbed my unclean dress and hurried into the house, throwing it into the first washing basket I saw. I ran straight into Gee on my way upstairs.

He chuckled and turned to Lindsey, who was behind them. "Hey, Kid -"

"Gee!" I said in surprise.

"Yeah, is something wrong...?"

I shook my head and smiled, hugging him. "I wanted to know if I could spend the day with Frank today. I don't know why he wants me to, but he said it I  _had_ to -"

"Well of course you can, Cass. Do whatever you want, as long as you keep me updated on the basic plan." He turned to Lindsey, "you were gonna stay around today anyways, right?"

Lindsey nodded and gave me a kind smile, "you got your clothes, I see."

I nodded, "yeah. Thanks so much for that, Lindsey!"

"No problem," she paused, "have fun with Frank."

"Yeah." Gerard agreed, "d'ya need any money?"

I shook my head, "probably not."

"Well if you do tell Frank I'll give it back to him later." Gerard told me. I nodded.

"Sure! Bye -"

"What's going on here?" Frank was halfway up the stairs when he saw us all talking. "A mothers' meeting, and you didn't invite  _me_?" He sounded genuinely hurt for a second before he cracked a wide smile.

"I was just running today by Gee." I said, turning to him and giving him a stare that said 'go along with what I say'. "It's a surprise, right? But you're taking me all day?"

"Oh yeah! Right." He grinned at Gerard and Lindsey, "I might even keep her overnight, it depends on how long the  _thing_ runs."

Gerard looked at us suspiciously, though I seriously doubted that he suspected us of anything sexual, "um, okay. Have fun. Frank, take care of my girl." He gave me a kiss on the forehead and slipped past me and Frank so he was now in the hallway.

Frank led me out of the front door, the two of us shouting hurried goodbyes to any of the remaining party guests before Frank shut the door behind us. He turned to me. "A whole day to ourselves?" He smirked, "whatever will we do?"

"Oh I'm sure you'll think of something, Mr Iero." I grinned and batted my eyelashes.

"I just want to kiss you." He whispered to me, drawing closer to my ear so I could hear him more clearly.

"I just want you to kiss me." I replied, still whispering, "but not here. Not now."

"My car's over there, and I know this great little place. We can watch the whole city -" He whispered.

"Can we make out?" He nodded slowly and ran his tongue across his bottom lip. "We can do anything you want to, Kitten."

He led me over to his car and I got into the passenger seat, waiting for him to get in beside me.

* * * * *

He sped away from Gee's house and opened the gates using an app on his phone. It was kind of cute that all of the guys could get into each other's houses whenever they wanted to. "I'm sorry for yesterday." I told him as he pulled into the road, "I was out of order, and I just wanted you to say it -"

"Say what, Kitten?" He asked, keeping his eyes on the road, "tell me. I won't judge you, and I won't say it if it's not true."

That last part scared me a little.  _I won't say it if it's not true_. What if he didn't love me? What if he - "I wanted you to tell me that you loved me."

 _Stupid brain!_ I yelled at myself,  _why'd you have to go and tell him that?! You could have lied about it! Now if it's not true he won't say it_.

He was silent. I was starting to panic. "Frank?" I asked, "Frankie?" I put a hand on his knee and he looked down at it, though not disdainfully. "Frank? I'm sorry, I -"

"I love you." He said quietly.

I looked up at him in surprise, "you...  _what_?"

He pulled over and killed the engine, not saying anything to me in the meantime. Frank turned to me and looked me dead in the eyes, "Cassia Way," he took one of my hands in his own, "I love you. And if I had known that you wanted me to say something so obvious and so clear, then I would have done it immediately, no questions and no hesitations."

I smiled and brushed some hair out of eye, "say it again, Frank." I begged quietly, giving his hand a small squeeze.

"I  _love_ you." He smirked at me, " _I love you_."

"You do?"

He nodded, "I do." He brought a hand to the back of my neck and gently brought my head closer to his own until our lips met. It was electric... no, it was better than that. This kiss with Frank was like a salvation. It was like I'd been dying of thirst in the desert, and this was the water. It brought me back to life... that sounded corny, but it was true. 

"I love you too." I told him as our lips separated for less than three seconds as he kissed me once more, this time with more passion and more heat. We kissed for a while and then his fingers found their way to the bottom of my t-shirt. I put my fingers over his and stopped him.

"I'm sorry, I -"

"Not here, Frank." I interrupted, "I'm fairly sure it's illegal to have sex in a car on the freeway."

Frank chuckled, "maybe you're right, but it's something that I want to try."

"I'd rather not get arrested while I'm naked and horny." I smiled at him, and batted my eyelashes once more.

"Maybe you're right -"

"Why don't you drive us back to your's, and then we can..." I walked two of my fingers up his chest, "have sex in a car on the freeway... but in a house  _not_ on the freeway?"

He chuckled again, "that sounds fun." He agreed quietly, kissing me once more, though softly and sparingly.

"Guess you'd better get driving then, Mister."

Reluctantly he let go of me and turned the key in the ignition once more, startling the car to life, and speeding off in the direction of his house.


	25. Chapter 25

Frank's house looked like a bomb had hit it. It was messy, and there was dirty plates and empty wrappers littered throughout, though he didn't seem to notice them. 

"Uh," I looked around as I gingerly picked my way across the minefield of rubbish that was his hallway, "could you not afford a maid?"

He chuckled and turned to me, "why would I hire a maid? I live by myself and I don't mind the mess -"

"But I  _do_." 

"Well I guess I'll have to hire one then." He shrugged and led me into the kitchen, which (surprisingly) was almost clean, barring a few dirty plates and empty bottles of alcohol. "But I can still make out with you, despite the mess..." he trailed off, walking closer to me and pulling me into his arms using his surprising amount of body strength. I didn't think such a short guy would be so strong, "in fact," he pulled away from my lips momentarily, "I think you'll even enjoy it."

I laughed against him and slipped my hands up under his shirt, running my fingers across his skin, skimming the tattoos as though they were water on a summer's day and my fingers were the stones. "Ah..." I moaned as I felt him move my legs apart with one of his own, and push me back against the wall, rubbing my nether region with his knee, as fucking hard as he could. It hurt a little, but  _fuck it felt so good_... "Frank -"

He cut me off by stripping my t-shirt from me, leaving me in a black bra and jeans. He looked at me and rubbed his thumbs against the top of my breasts. Maybe I was mistaken, but I was sure I saw drool pooling at his lip, "you're beautiful, okay?" He looked me dead in the eye and stopped kissing me, rubbing me for a second. "Fucking beautiful. Don't ever let anybody tell you otherwise, 'kay?"

I nodded and brought his lips to my own again, having been Frank-less for less than ten seconds and already craving his taste in my mouth once more. He let go of me momentarily whilst he took his shirt off and I looked at the artwork covering his body for a second. His tattoo artist was exceptional, and somebody needed to tell me. "Holy motherfucking shit balls -" He chuckled against my lips and hooked his fingers into my belt loops, looking at me as though I were pure gold and he was just nickel. "What...?" I cocked my head and smiled at him, "why've you stopped kissing me -?"

He cut me off with a kiss and another smirk. "I wanna see how long it'll take me to get you naked."

I giggled quietly and ran my hands up and down his chest twice more before replying, "I don't think it'll take you long -"

He cut me off by throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me back through his house and up his stairs. I laughed and called his name all the while, but not once did I tell him to put me down.

Frank threw me onto his bed and climbed on top of me, unclipping my bra within the first thirty seconds. "I'm gonna undo your jeans now, Kitten," he whispered in my ear as he nibbled.

My hands were on either side of his face, and I nodded, moaning loudly when I felt him rubbing me through the denim. "Just... fucking..." I trailed off as I felt him undo the buttons and my flies, and slip two fingers under the fabric of my knickers. He inserted one and I moaned, though he was slightly rougher with me than Mikey had been. 

"Almost there," he smirked, "what's that? Less than three minutes?"

"I think it's two." I admitted as I hooked my fingers onto the sides of my own underwear and yanked them down. I heard a sharp intake of breath and I saw him looking me up and down. 

"So fucking beautiful." He commented in a tone that implied he could hardly believe that somebody as beautiful as  _me_ could exist. Honestly, I could hardly believe that he thought  _I_ was beautiful, and that he wanted  _me_.

"You're a work of art." I looked at his tattoos again and he caught my gaze, running his own eyes along it until he saw what I was looking at.

He chuckled, "if I'm a work of art, Kitten, then you're the  _Mona Lisa_." I blushed a little as I felt him slide my underwear down even more and pull his boxers down. There was now no layers between us. "Want me to put a condom on?"

I flashed back to the previous night and tried to remember if Mikey had worn a -  _fuck_.  _He hadn't. And he'd come inside of me. Oh fuck! Shit!_ I didn't want what I'd done with Mikey to ruin what was happening with Frank so I shook my head. "I can, um, get something for it afterwards."

Frank nodded, "now?" He pulled his two fingers out of me and I nodded once, not wanting to think about Mikey, but finding it hard to ignore the fact that I could have a fertilised egg inside of me... besides, I hadn't had a period in about three weeks. He thrust deep into me, once, and I moaned and gasped, writhing about a little. For such a small guy, he had incredible strength, and an incredible size length. "I'm not hurting you, am I?"

I cut him off with a quick, short kiss and looked into his eyes. "Not at all."

"Good because I, uh, didn't know if you were a virgin or not and I didn't remember or not -"

"I'm not a virgin, Frank."  _One of your best friends took my virginity last night after I was supposed to meet you. It was fucking amazing, and I don't regret it, but you're tonnes better at fucking._

He moved about, always checking to see if I was okay and if he was hurting me. I was sure that I ached a little down there because of the loss of my virginity last night, but I didn't complain of the pain to Frank. After a few minutes of thrusting, moving and feeling me up and down, kissing my lips and my bare skin, I felt a familiar tightening sensation in my tummy, and it was amazing. It'd been gone for less than twenty-four hours, and I'd missed it. "Are you ready?" He whispered in my ear as he gently nibbled my earlobe and I felt his dick twitch inside of me.

"Oh, I'm there, Baby." I said, quoting him in 'Vampire Money'. He chuckled, and we came in unison, our juices mixing.


	26. Chapter 26

Frank was lying naked and asleep beside me, the covers wrapped around his bottom half, leaving the top half of him open to me to look at. I had propped myself up using my arm, resting my head in my hand, and I had been gazing at him for almost twenty minutes.

"You're staring." He didn't even have to open his eyes to know it.

"I am not!" I replied indignantly.

"Yes you are."

"I'm gazing -"

"It's creepy." He opened one eye a crack and smirked at me, "stop it."

"It's romantic." I answered, giggling as he opened both eyes and pulled a funny face at me. "You know what would be fun?"

"Going back to sleep?" He asked hopefully, grinning like a kid with candy.

"No!" I said as I grabbed a pillow and hit him with it. Frank put his arms up to defend himself, and we both laughed as I tried my hardest to outsmart him and find a way to hit him with the pillow.

"Well then what would be so fun?" He asked, winking at me as he managed to take the pillow from me.

"I wanna do a Twitter q&a with you, and I want to live stream it and -"

"Sure," Frank shrugged and dropped the pillow to the floor, "haven't done one of them in a while." He grabbed his phone and opened Twitter.

_@FrankIero : Looking after @MissCassWay today. Anybody up for a live q &a? Tweet us your questions!_

He looked at me, "okay now you tweet." I shrugged and grabbed my phone.

_@MissCassWay : Mr @FrankIero decided he wants to do a q &a. Tweet us your questions asap!_

"And now we wait." Frank laid back down and turned over, closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

"Frank!" I yelled in his ear.

He was so startled by the sudden loud noise that he fell off the edge of the bed. I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "What time is it?" He asked as he picked himself up and retrieved his boxers from wherever he had thrown them whilst we'd been having sex (it still felt weird to say that).

"Half past three in the afternoon." I told him, "can we do the q&a now...?" I whined.

He shrugged, "sure. Yeah. You get the questions on your phone and I'll live stream it."

* * * * *

"Whassup guys, I'm here today with Gee's daughter @MissCassWay and the beautiful sunlight," he gestured out of the window in the living room (where we'd decided to set the live stream up) "and we are here to answer your questions." He looked at me, "Cass, what's the first one?"

"Um," I scrolled through my phone, "@JonathonJones wants to know what we've spent the day doing?"

"Well we had a party last night at Gee's in honour of Cass' homecoming," he grinned at me, "so there was a tonne of people there. I'm talking  _Sleeping With Sirens_ ,  _Panic! At The Disco_ ,  _Against The Current,_ so a bunch of us woke up early this morning and kidnapped Cassia from her bed and put her into the limo and went to McDonalds." He grinned, "then we came back to Gee's, then I asked his permission to steal her and then Cass and me came back to mine where we've been watching movies all day." He shrugged, "not much really." He looked at me and I read him the next question.

"Would you prefer Frerard or Frikey?"

He bit his lip, "ooh, that's a hard choice." He paused, "um, do they have to actually exist, or like, in a fanfiction sense?" I shrugged, "well I guess it's Frerard then. I'm not gonna lie, I really ship Raykey so it'd be awkward between me and Ray if I took Mikey away from him."

I chuckled, "ooh, this one's for me!" I paused and read it out in my head before I read it out loud, "would you rather date Ray or Frank?"

I looked at Frank. "Um, I don't really wanna answer that -"

"It's me, right? Of course it's me. I'm sexy. Like that tweet if you think I'm sexy. Come on, Cass, you'd pick me, right?"

I laughed, and silently thanked God for sending Frank. Frank, who made me feel not so awkward, Frank who made me feel loved and  _beautiful_. "Yeah, I guess it would be you."

"Yes! Get in there, Frankie, get in!" He punched the air in triumph and I laughed again.

"Well a lot of people think you're sexy, Frank," I showed him the tweet which had gotten over twenty thousand likes in just a few seconds. "Okay, next question... this one's from @HarrietSmallvilleMCRlover... am I staying overnight?"

He looked at me and shrugged, "well I mean you can if you want."

"Well I don't wanna be a burden -"

"Stay if you want. We can order some shitty chinese takeaway and stay up late telling ghost stories." I grinned and looked at the camera.

"Guess I'm staying overnight then," I said, "this question's from... oh, it's from dad." I stopped myself. That was the first time I'd called him dad. And I'd just done it live on Twitter. "What time you coming home tonight/tomorrow, Cass?"

"Um," I looked at Frank, "I dunno. Can I text you later?"

"I'm getting bored, so we'll do a few more questions and then go find a chinese takeaway menu or something -"

I laughed, "@JennyCollins wants to know what shampoo you use and why."

He flicked his hair, "L'Oreal Paris... because I'm worth it."

I burst into a fit of laughter that caused me to drop my phone on the floor. "Oh, fuck!" I exclaimed, "that's...! Please never do that ever again!"

He grinned and reclaimed my phone from the floor beside me, "@CasperTheFriendlyGhostWantsTo -" he cut himself off, "oops, naughty word - me." He finished the username and then grinned at the camera, "have you got a girlfriend, and if so, who is she?"

"Um," he didn't look at me. He probably didn't want to give it away to the camera or start rumours, "I  _hope_ I have a girlfriend, and she's the most beautiful girl in the world and she's fucking amazing and -"

"Sounds like you're  _in love_ , Frankie." I giggled.

"I am." Frank said, turning to me momentarily and then back to the camera. "I fucking love her."

"And on that note," I said, getting up and going to the camera, "we end this live q&a to go order shitty chinese food. Ciau y'all." I pressed end and grinned at Frank. "I fucking love you too." I went over to him and kissed him with all my might.

My phone buzzed and I picked it up. It had both me and Frank tagged in it. I read it out loud. "@MissCassWay get off @FrankIero he's my man!"

Frank and me looked at the camera and then at each other. "Holy motherfucking shit balls!"

"We're fucking screwed!" Frank yelled as he threw himself at the camera and turned it off as quickly as he could.


	27. Chapter 27

"Cass, you have to go now." Frank looked at me, his eyes wide with fear. "Like, now."  
"But, Frank, -"  
"Go, Cass. The police'll probably come. Go tell Gee what happened - don't miss anything out - make sure he understands and make sure he pays my bail. Tell him there's enough money in my bank account, the pin is -"  
"Frank," I took his hand, "you're not going to be arrested. The police'll come and probably just ask a few questions. In fact, they might not even come -"  
"Oh, Cass," he put a hand to my cheek, "somebody who saw that will call the authorities and call me a paedophile or a predator or something like that," he sighed, "go tell Gee."  
I kissed him once more, softly, on the lips. "I love you."  
"I love you too." He let me go, "take my car. The keys are on the table by the door. I'll open the gate for you now." I nodded and did as I was told, unable to shake the feeling that that was the last time I'd see him properly for a while.

* * * * *

"Chrissy!" I cried as she answered the phone, "it's awful -"  
"Oh shit, what happened!? Did the thing with Frank not go as planned -?" I cut her off.  
"No, it was amazing! We had sex and then he went to sleep and I watched him for a while. It was what happened after that -"  
"What the fuck is this news article?" She yelled, "Frank Iero, paedophile." She was silent for a few seconds. "What the fuck happened?"  
My tears were falling faster than they had been before, "Frank and me did a live q&a together and I thought I turned the camera off but apparently I didn't and now it's all fucked up and Gee's gonna see it and Ray and Mikey and the world is going to think I'm a whore and Frank's a paedophile. He'll never be able to perform or tour again, Chrissy! My Chemical Romance will be over!"  
"Woh, calm down. I'm at Starbucks on..." I hardly heard her words as she told me where she was, but all of a sudden I was changing direction and driving towards her, on my way to pick her up.

As soon as she got into the car she embraced me and wiped my tears away. "Hey, don't worry about it -"  
"I'm a whore!" I exclaimed, sobbing harder than I had ever before, "and I ruined MCR!"  
"Hey, hey." She smiled encouragingly at me, "nobody ruined MCR!"  
"I did!" I cried, "I ruined -"  
"Okay, move over. I'm driving and you're gonna cry and cry until you feel better - or we reach Gee's house - whatever happens first." I nodded and got out of the car and went round to the passenger side, Chrissy slid over into the driver's seat and started the car with the key that I'd left in the ignition. "Nice car by the way."  
"It's Frank's," I wiped away a tear, "he told me to take it after..." I hiccuped, "after we got caught. Said that he wanted me to go tell Gee before he heard it from somebody else -"  
"Well let's go then." Chrissy sped away and followed the maps system in Frank's car.

* * * * *

Gee opened the door to Chrissy holding her arms around me whilst I sobbed. "Holy motherfucking shit balls," he muttered, "what did Frank do? Thanks for bringing her home, Chrissy, I'll get you a cab -"  
"Dad, I want her to stay." I called him dad. I've never done that before. Other than on the live q&a...   
"Sure, Princess, come in." He led me into the living room where Lindsey was watching some shitty reality TV show in one of Gee's shirts and her jeans from yesterday. "Sit here." He plonked me next to Lindsey, "what is it?"  
"Well on the live q&a... Oh fuck I don't know how to tell you!"  
"Tell me what, Cass?" He asked in a caring way, sitting himself between me and Lindsey, and watching as Chrissy settled herself into the armchair beside us, "what's wrong, Baby?"  
"Frank and me... well we like each other..." I didn't know what I was saying. I was on autopilot, and I couldn't control myself or my actions, "and I was round his house -"  
"Holy fuck, did he -?" I cut him off.  
"It doesn't matter -"  
"He did!" Gerard stood up, anger obvious in his face, "I'm gonna fucking kill him -"  
"Daddy!" I cried. He looked at me and saw how much I was crying and moved closer to me, picked me up and settled me back down in his lap. I curled up against him and continued to explain, though I also didn't stop crying. "So I thought I turned the camera off but apparently I didn't and it recorded us kissing and it's on Twitter and there's already news reports about Frank being a paedophile and he sent me out of the house, told me to take his car and make you understand and to pay his bail if he got arrested, said the money was in his bank account and the pin was -"  
"Has he been arrested?" Gerard asked in an oddly calm tone.  
I shook my head, "I don't know, Daddy," I told him, "but I know that he needs you right now! The whole world is going to hate him -"  
"I hate him for what he did to you."  
"No!" I exclaimed, looking into his eyes which were looking down at me, though whether a metaphorical meaning was implied I was unsure, "Gerard, it was... I love him."  
Gerard stood up, and I was still in his arms. He literally handed me to Lindsey. "Take her. Look after her. I've got to go help Frank." He looked at me, "and I'm not disappointed or even mad at you, Cass, you've been a care kid. From what I heard and from what you've told me, that life is shitty and it's like bringing yourself up. I don't blame you. And I love you. I'm mad at Frank, but if you love him and he loves you then..." he sighed, "I'll support you. The whole band will -"  
"I will." Chrissy piped up for the first time since we'd walked into the house. "And so will Dan and Will."  
"And MSI," Lindsey promised, "we all will." She paused, "we can defend it and spin some sort of lie." I couldn't stop sobbing. She wrapped her arms more tightly around me, "oh, honey, don't cry. Your dad's going to go and fix it all right now -"  
"Please look after him, Dad!" I wailed at Gerard who kissed my forehead.   
"I'll do my best to help him, Baby. I promise, 'kay?" I nodded and gave a small smile that quickly relapsed into a sob. I heard the door slam behind him and his car start.


	28. Chapter 28

Gerard arrived at Frank's house just in time to see the two police officers knocking on Frank's front door. He jumped out of his car, "wait!" He yelled, darting over to them without even bothering to shut his car door behind him.

The police officers turned to him momentarily and then back to the door of Frank's house, showing no signs that they had even  _seen_ Gerard. "Mr Iero, if you don't open this door then I'll be forced to break it down," one of the officers warned Frank in a raised voice, "I'm going to give you to the count of three, Mr Iero -"

"I have a key here," Gerard held up his set of keys,  _now_ the officers turned to look at him, interest evident in their keen eyes, "but I'd like to come in with you and just  _talk_ to him. After all, it's  _my_ daughter that he..." Gee trailed off. He didn't know what to call it.  _Took advantage of? Cass had said it was consensual. Fucked? Probably not appropriate language for around the police. Committed the crime with? Was it a crime if they loved each other?_

The policeman sighed and turned to the second policeman, and a look passed between the two of them. The first policeman, who had yelled at Frank through the door only a moment before, looked at Gerard. "You're in a band, right?  _My Chemical Romance_?"

Gerard nodded, "that's us."

"Heck, just being brought to the station is going to be a huge news story..." he trailed off, "and strictly speaking, we're not supposed to do this... but I'm going to give you some time with him before we put him in cuffs." Gee smiled thankfully at the police, " _if_ he cooperates, that is."

Gerard nodded, "he will." The policemen stepped aside as Gee slid his key into Frank's door and unlocked it, turning to the policemen. "Follow me."

He led them into Frank's gaming room where Frank was playing  _Tomb Raider_. He turned to the policemen and Gee, "yeah, okay. I'm coming. Can I just save my game?"

"I told you he'd cooperate." Gee remarked, turning to the policemen.

"Mr Iero, we'd like to ask you to come down to the station -" Frank cut the second officer off.

"Lemme just save my game and then I swear you can put the cuffs on me and I'll be good." Frank saved his game and stood up, holding out his hands, "okay. But not really tight please because I have wrist pain because I play guitar a shit tonne - oops, am I allowed to swear in front of you guys?"

"Mr Iero," the second policeman said, "you're not under arrest. We just want to ask you some questions about your relationship with Miss Way."

"She's not underage," Frank said, "she's seventeen. The legal age of consent is sixteen -"

"But you are thirteen years her senior, Sir." The first policeman said, "and if Gerard Way decides to press charges, then -"

"I don't want to press charges." Gerard answered.

"Even so, Mr Iero, we'd like you to come down to the station. Is that going to be a problem?" The second policeman asked.

Frank shook his head and felt like a weight the size of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. "No. No not at all. Let me lock up and I'll come with you."

The policeman followed closely behind Frank as he went round locking the house up and putting the security system on.

"I'll uh, come with you." Gerard muttered as he followed the policemen and Frank out of the house. He got into his own car whilst Frank got into the back of the police car.

* * * * *

"When did you first meet Miss Way?" The first policeman asked.

"Um, it was two days ago." Frank answered, "the day that Gerard adopted her. He texted us (that's the band), and asked us to come and surprise her. She's a big fan of the band."

"Did anything happen between the two of you the first night?"

Frank turned to look at Gerard who had been allowed in the interrogation room as it wasn't an  _official_ interrogation. "We, uh... we kissed in Gee's kitchen." He admitted, hanging his head.

"And have you had sexual intercourse with her yet?"

Frank's head seemed to fall even lower. "Yes." He muttered.

"Pardon?"

"Yes." Frank looked at the policeman and then at Gerard, who looked utterly horrified.

"Was it consensual?" The second policeman asked, looking at the two men in front of him, knowing that this was something that would probably change both of their lives. They both had something in common - the girl - Cassia Way - and they both loved her, though differently.

"Completely." Frank answered, "yes."

"And Mr Way," he said, turning to Gerard, "you're not pressing charges?"

Gerard had already given his answer, but it had to be on audio, so that was why they were in the room, and Gerard had gone in with them. "No. I'm not pressing charges." He paused, "do you need to talk to my daughter?"

The policemen looked at each other and then shook their heads in unison, "best not to upset her. You said she was sobbing when she told you -"

"Yeah," Gee agreed, "and I'd really hate to upset her anymore." He turned to Frank, "you should have seen her. She was all distraught, crying and stuff. I've never seen anybody cry like that in my entire life. I left her with Lindsey and Chrissy."

"That's good," Frank remarked, a small smile on his face at the thought of Cass being left with 'babysitters' like she was no more than a child, "she likes Chrissy. She trusts her."

Gerard stood up, "well if it's okay with you, Officers, Frank and I will be leaving now."

The officers nodded their heads in unison, "of course. Have a good day, gentlemen."

Gee turned to his best friend, "come on, Man, I'll give you a lift home."

Frank grinned and followed Gerard out to his car.

 


	29. Chapter 29

The ride back to Frank's house was completed in silence. It was only when Gerard pulled up outside of his house for the second time that day that he turned to Frank. "You hurt her, Frank." Frank looked at him in surprise, partly because his friend had finally spoken, and partly because he hadn't expected Gerard to say something as blunt (or as wrong) as what he had, "you hurt Cass. You made her cry in a way that was heartbreaking. I honestly could  _feel_ the pain she was in... and it was because of you." Gerard sighed and bowed his head, "and I won't have anybody hurting her. She's my responsibility, and I promised I'd take care of her. You were both lucky. I don't know if this is the end of it, but you  _hurt_ her, and -" Gee was cut off by Frank, who was seething.  _How dare he accuse Frank of hurting the one thing that Frank cared about more than anything he had ever cared about before?!_

"I didn't do anything to her," Frank got out of the car and walked up to the front door, trying to keep his voice calm and even, and his temper under control, Gee followed behind him, "she was crying because she was scared that I was going to be arrested." He paused, "and we weren't supposed to be caught."

"But you were caught, and you almost were arrested!"

"It's legal, Gerard! Oh my fucking God!" Gerard followed Frank into the house, "why the fuck are you so mad about this!?" He paused, "I didn't hurt her! I made sure that she enjoyed every moment of it, and that I got her consent for it!"

"Because you fucking fucked my daughter!" Gee yelled, "and then when she came to me crying and saying you were going to be arrested, I had to come and sort you out!" He hesitated, bit his lip, and continued, "she  _begged_ me not to hurt you! I am so fucking mad at you, Frank Iero! I could gouge your fucking eyes out!"

"You're my best friend, Gerard!" Frank bellowed, turning to the man who he once thought would have his back through  _everything_ , "and you're supposed to come sort me out when the fucking proverbial shit hits the fucking proverbial fan!"

"You fucked my daughter!" Gerard yelled, the red that he had been seeing only darkening to a scarlet, and then to something as dark as black, he balled up his fists, "and I'm going to fuck you up! You will never come near her again because you'll be  _afraid_ of me. Leave her the fuck alone, asshole!" He threw a punch at Frank's nose and held his breath as it collided with the younger male's face, causing it to bleed immediately, though he didn't hear a  _crack_ which meant the nose hadn't broken yet. He hit his best friend again, and this time heard a satisfying sound as the bone broke and more blood flowed from Frank's nostrils.

Frank wasn't fighting back. He was letting Gerard hit him. Maybe he deserved this. He  _had_ had sex with Cassia, and he  _had_ caused her to cry, if indirectly.  _You deserve this, Frank_ , he told himself,  _you deserve every single punch. Every single drop of blood... you deserve it._

"You're no fucking good for her!" Gerard yelled, kicking Frank in the stomach. "And you fucking don't deserve her! You're going to hurt her! She doesn't love you!"

Frank was now on the floor and Gerard was kicking him in the ribs, "stop! Gerard!" Frank was coughing up blood and clutching his stomach in pain. "Gee... Stop!" Frank could feel his head spinning, and was fairly sure that Gerard had kicked his skull at least twice. If he had, at the very least he'd have a concussion.

"Leave her alone, Frank! Leave  _us_ alone! We don't want you here! You're worthless! Your fucking guitar is just an extra because you're fun to have around! But none of us want you in the fucking band anymore!" He stopped kicking Frank and looked at the bleeding mess on the floor in front of him, "piss off, and don't come back. Not for Cass, not for anything else. We. Don't. Want. You. Don't call us. Any of us." He spat at Frank and turned and walked off, secretly wanting to turn back and help Frank up and hug him, apologise to him.  _No!_ He yelled at himself as he shut the door behind him and got into his car, pulling out his phone,  _you're doing this to protect Cassia. Cassia. The girl you love. The girl who lives with you. The sweet seventeen year old who came to you to help with her problem even though she knew you'd be mad at her and your own best friend. Cassia Way. You're doing this for Cassia Way._

Gerard sighed and typed the number into his phone. "911, how may I assist you?"

"I need an ambulance to um..." he trailed off as he relayed the address and the override code to get past the front gates of Frank's gates. "My name's Frank Iero, and I'm thirty years old. Yeah. Somebody came in and hit me and kicked me. I have a broken nose, and probably a few broken ribs as well." He paused, "I think he kicked me in the head too, but I'm not sure, I -"

"Okay, Sir, an ambulance is on its way."

"Thanks." Gerard hung up and sighed, resting his head on the steering wheel. "Oooh..." he took a deep breath. "Okay. Gotta go home. Gotta see if she's okay..." he started the car and drove out of the front gates and back towards his own home. Back towards Cassia. Back towards Lindsey. Back towards the only two people that he would hurt his own best friends for. Back to the one person that he  _had_ hurt his best friend for.


	30. Chapter 30

Gerard pulled up in his driveway and rested his head against the steering wheel again. He had hurt Frank. What would Cass say? Deciding to face the facts and bite the bullet, he opened his car door and got out, though almost as soon as he had closed it Chrissy was standing behind him.  
"What happened?" She asked suddenly. "Is he okay? Did he get arrested? Is it bad? Oh my God, Gerard she's freaking out and has been since you left! Lindsey and me managed to get her to sleep but I doubt it'll last long -"  
"Frank didn't get arrested." Gerard said, holding up a hand to silence Chrissy Costanza, "I arrived just as the police were about to break the door down. I unlocked it with a key instead, he cooperated and they didn't arrest him they just wanted him to answer some questions. So we went to the station and then I gave him a lift home after, and he..."  
He trailed off, "he said he didn't love her and that he was leaving town to get away because he felt guilty for using her... so I beat him up."  
"You beat him up?!" Chrissy exclaimed.  
"You what?!" Lindsey exclaimed from the front door. Gerard looked up and saw her leaning against the door frame, arms crossed against her chest.   
"I was protecting her -"  
"But she loves him!" Lindsey and Chrissy exclaimed in unison as Gee walked over to the front door and Chrissy followed him.  
"But he doesn't love her," Gee sighed, "and I'm fucking pissed at him for using her... he won't be bothering her anymore. I kicked him out of the band -"  
"It's not your job to do that." Lindsey pointed out softly, ducking away from Gerard's kiss, "it's supposed to be a group decision -"  
"I think I have the authority on this one." He paused, "he hurt her. He used her. I wish I'd have pressed charges -"  
"Well why'd you let him get away with it then?!" Chrissy yelled, a fire burning in her soul. She was angry at Gerard for hurting Frank, because she knew that it would indirectly hurt Cass... and that would hurt Gerard too.  
"Because I just wanted him gone and out of her life," Gerard sighed, "he said he's leaving."  
"This'll break her -" Lindsey was cut off by Gerard.  
"She's known him three days -"  
"She'll be so upset. She really loves him." Chrissy hung her head, "I don't think... I think I'll stay here with her tonight, Gerard. Is that okay?"  
"Sure," he said quietly, "um, there's a spare room next to her's, I think."  
"Thanks." Chrissy paused. "I'm gonna go sit up there and just make sure she's okay when she wakes up. Okay?"

* * * * *

"Hey, Cass. Um, it's -" he was cut off by a splutter of coughing before he carried on, "it's Frank. I'm just leaving this voicemail to say bye. I, um, well I'm leaving town, and I probably won't be back for a while. Don't try calling me back because I'm gonna get a new number as soon as I get to a phone store. Just, uh... take care, okay?" He coughed again, "look after yourself... bye."  
Tears poured down my face as I listened to the voicemail that he'd left me. I'd listened to it four times already, and I hadn't heard any underlying message. I hadn't heard any 'I love you.' There was nothing there to even remotely infer that we'd had a relationship. Short, albeit, but a relationship nonetheless. He'd slept beside me once. And it had lasted two hours at most... and already I missed the feeling of him beside me, our legs tangled together and our hearts entwined.  
There was a soft knock at my door and I quickly sniffled and wiped my tears away with my hand. "Come in!" I called. Gerard, Lindsey and Chrissy walked in, one after the other. They looked like shit - like they'd been up half the night. Maybe the had. "What time is it?" I asked, hiding my phone under the duvet and turning it off.  
"Uh, it's half past five." Lindsey answered, "in the morning. You've been asleep for -"  
"Oh, Gee." He sat on the edge of my bed and I threw my arms around him, "he's not coming back, is he?"  
I was still crying, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.  
"I..." he hung his head, "no, Cass. He's not."  
"Oh shit," I sobbed, resting my head on his shoulder and letting the tears come, "he's gone... he's gone..."  
"He didn't get arrested, Cass." Chrissy said softly, sitting on the bed beside me, "he just -"  
"He said some not very nice things, Cassia." Gerard interrupted, "said he didn't love you and that he'd only used you for sex... said you were sport."  
"But..." my throat was dry and my blood ran cold in my veins, "he wouldn't do that... he wouldn't say that -"  
"Oh, Cass," Lindsey got onto the other half of the bed and put her arms around me, "it's hard hearing that you've been used -"  
"But I got him back, Cass." Gerard said softly, "I fucked him up real good -"  
"Is he okay?!" I exclaimed, pulling away from Gee and Lindsey and looking at Chrissy, "Chrissy -?"  
She hung her head, "Cass, I don't know -"  
"I rang an ambulance for him." Gerard said slowly, hardly daring to look at me, "and they said they were coming." He hesitated, "but he won't be coming near you again."  
I burst into more tears and heart wrenching sobs.   
Gerard bit his lip and looked at me and then the other two people in the room, "I think we should go and leave her to sleep."  
"But -"  
"Chrissy," I sighed and made a conscious effort to stop the tears, though I doubted I'd ever stop crying again, "just go. I'll be fine. I'll, um, have a quick cry and then I'll go straight back to sleep and when I wake up in the morning everything'll be all sunshine and roses and Frank'll be downstairs waiting for me with his stupid goofy smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes -"  
"Okay, honey," Lindsey kissed my forehead, unable to shatter my childish hope. "See you later on."  
"I'm asleep right next door if you get lonely." Chrissy whispered into my ear as she embraced me tightly.  
"I'm sorry, Baby." Gee said in my ear as he hugged me and kissed my forehead. "I wish he was the man we thought he was."


	31. Chapter 31

"She has been like this for a week," I heard Gerard whisper as he walked into my room, Ray beside him. "She's hardly gotten out of bed, and I don't think she's eaten anything since Monday."  
"You're her Dad, Gerard." Ray answered in a hushed voice, "you can make her out, you can make her get out of bed."  
Gee bit his lip, "but I put her through so much with Frank, I don't want to hurt her anymore."  
"But she's not her getting better," Ray paused, "you have to make her get out of bed, and you have to make her eat or she's going to get ill -"  
"I can hear you, you know." I muttered, looking up from my stuffed dog that Gee had bought me on the first day I came to his house, "and I appreciate you talking about me where I can hear you -"  
"Maybe it's this house," Ray remarked thoughtfully, ignoring me, "maybe if she came to stay with me -"  
"I couldn't just load her onto you, Ray." Gee replied, "she's sick. She's not doing well. It's not fair to just leave her with you -"  
"I'd be happy to have her." Ray smiled encouragingly at Gerard, "I'll stay for a bit today and then take her home with me later."   
Gerard nodded and watched as Ray turned and walked out of my room. He walked over to me and took me into his arms, kissing my forehead .ike he had every single time he'd been in my room to see me for the past seven times, "hey, Cass. How you doing?" He asked me quietly, letting me go so he could look into my eyes. I was silent. I hadn't said much this past week, and I hadn't done much either. "Did you hear what Ray said?" I nodded, "you'll be okay if you go to stay with him, right? You'll eat, and you'll get out of bed -?"  
"Probably not," I murmured, unable to conjure up the strength to speak loudly, "I don't think I'll ever be okay again."  
"Huh," he sighed and closed his eyes momentarily and then looked at me once more, sadness in his eyes, "Cass, I know you're sad about Frank, and that you're mad at me for hurting him, but..." he trailed off, "I had to, Sweetie. He hurt you. He used you. How can you still like him?"  
I was crying again. Crying, sleeping, and being miserable. That was all I'd done in the past week. "I love him, Gee."  
"But -"  
"If I go with Ray will you stop worrying about me?" I asked as I wiped my eyes with the back of the stuffed animal.  
He nodded slowly, "I know that you'll be okay I feel you go with Ray. Ray's great at making people feel better, Cassia. He'll take you out on picnics and pay for pony rides, and -"  
"I don't want to ride ponies!" I cried, starting a fresh flood of tears. "I want to have Frank back!"  
"Cass, Frank's not coming back, and you know that -" He had been trying to enforce this idea on me, but I wasn't having any of it.  
"Yes!" I yelled, "he is! Frank wouldn't leave me! He's coming back soon!"  
Gee sighed and kissed me again, "okay, sweetie. Fine. Maybe he is. He probably isn't. But I'm gonna pack your bag for Ray's, okay?"  
I laid back and closed my eyes. Sighing once more, Gerard stood up and grabbed one of the bags that'd arrived with the rest of my stuff from the home. He began to throw items of clothing into it, and then he packed some of my belongings carefully on the top. My new laptop, my phone charger... a picture that had been taken of Frank and me the first night we'd met (I hadn't known this photo had been taken until Gerard gave it to me three days after Frank had left).   
"Okay, you're all ready to go. Do you wanna come down and say bye to Chrissy and Lindsey?"  
Lindsey hadn't gone back to her own house since the night of the party, and Chrissy had stayed in the room next to mine for a few nights before going home, but she came round at least once a day to see how I was doing.

I shook my head, "I'll see them on my way down... I guess," I shrugged, though I didn't bother to open my eyes, "just grab me some clothes for today from the closet, would ya?"

He nodded and walked into my closet. He was gone for all of about four minutes before he walked back out. "Um, I have my Party Poison jacket in my closet, but it's always been a bit small for me. Do you maybe want to try it on...?"

A small smile lit up my face. Perhaps he knew that this would make me smile, because he seemed to look better already. Less worried, and less guilty. "I'd really like to wear a piece of MCR history," I replied, sitting up, "d'ya think maybe I could get something to eat before I go to Ray's too?"

He nodded, "yeah," Gerard paused, "wha'd you want? Ham sandwich? Cheese and crackers? Lasagne?..." he trailed off, "I've been told I make the best cheese toasties in the world."

I smiled again, and this time it remained on my face for more than a few seconds, "if you're cheese toasties are so good then I'd like to know why I haven't had one yet," I crossed my arms against my chest and pouted, trying to be as cute and childish as was possible, "I think I should probably get up." He gave me an encouraging grin and offered out a hand to me. I took it and he helped me out of bed. "Can you open the blinds?" As he reached into the drawer of my bedside table I knew he took happiness in the fact that I was finally getting out of bed and I was (hopefully) getting back to who I was before Frank. The blinds rolled up and back into the cove of the ceiling.

"I'll um, wait out here while you go into the closet and change." I nodded and walked into the closet, closing the door behind me. When I was changed and I'd brushed my hair, I walked out of the closet and smiled at Gee, who was sitting on my bed, looking at the picture of us that Kellin had taken at the party the night I'd met Chrissy and all of my other heroes... and the night I'd had sex with Mikey. I'd looked hot that night, and every time I looked at the picture I was reminded of it. He put the photo frame back down on my bedside table and grinned at me, "let's go try that jacket."


	32. Chapter 32

I didn't sit in the passenger seat of Ray's car, instead I got into the back and watched as Gee and Ray loaded up the back of the car with my two bags, and then spoke with each other in hushed voices outside of the car. I couldn't hear more than a few words at a time.

"Take care of her..." Gee said.

"...Frank shouldn't have done this her..." Ray said, though I had missed the first part of his sentence.

"She's so hurt, Ray." 

"I know."

"Make her happy again." Gerard said in a desperate tone.

"I'll try my hardest." Ray opened the driver's door and got into the car, waving goodbye to Gee as he started the car and drove out of the gates and onto the road towards his house.

 

He didn't live far from where Frank lived.  _Frank._ Just his name made me sad. The mere thought of him gave me butterflies. I still loved him so much, and it still hurt. I didn't know if this pain would ever go away.  _I hope it will_ , I told myself,  _I don't want to ache like this forever. It's not fair on Gee, and it's not fair on me. I want to move on. I love Frank, and I always will, but I can't stay with the idea of him forever_.

"Ray?" He looked in the mirror at me and grinned, waiting for me to continue, "can we go bowling?"

"Bowling?" He raised an eyebrow, "why'd you want to do that, Cass?"

I shrugged, "I want to do something fun, and I want to tweet about it. But if you don't want to then that's totally fine -"

"No, I love bowling, but I'm not very good at it," he admitted, still grinning, "d'ya wanna go out for some food after?"

"Can we just go to McDonalds?" I asked hopefully.

He chuckled, "sure, Kid. Whatever you want."

* * * * *

"Ha ha!" I turned to him and grinned, "I win! I win!"

"You got a spare," he pointed out, gesturing to the three bowling pins which were still standing upright whilst the others rolled around them, "if you hit it then you win. If not..." he shrugged, "then I win. There's two points between us, and this is your chance." 

"And what do I get if I win?" I picked up the bowling ball that I had been using.

He shrugged, "I dunno. You got a CD player?" I shook my head, "I'll buy you a CD player then. A real good one, and I'll let you choose what movie we watch tonight."

"And what if I don't win?"

Ray shrugged again, "you have to make me a cake. And give me a footrub."

"Ew," I wrinkled my nose, "no way."

"Some fangirls would jump at the chance to touch my feet," he wiggled them around and I giggled, looking back at him.

"I think  _most_ fangirls would touch your feet, but Gee adopted me, and I have higher standards that your tootsies," I paused and threw the ball, knocking two of the pins over, and one of them hit the third pin and knocked that over as well. I moved to poke him in the ribs, "besides,  _Uncle Ray_ ," he turned to me and chuckled, waiting for me to carry on, "it looks like I'm getting a new CD player." I grinned, "and I wanna watch  _Life On The Murder Scene_."

"You're joking."

"Nuh-uh." I smiled, "I wanna watch it. I never have, and I bet you have it on DVD somewhere."

"I mean, I have it, but I don't wanna  _watch_ it -"

I cut him off, "you can close your eyes then," I smiled innocently, "can we get McDonalds now?"

* * * * *

"So how long has it been since you've eaten?" He asked.

"Um, about three hours. I had a toastie before I left, remember?"

"No, I mean before that." He said in a soft tone, pulling some hair out of his line of vision.

"What's the day?" I asked.

"Thursday."

"Well then I haven't eaten since early Monday morning." I paused, "but I only had a bite of toast. I haven't really eaten properly since..." I trailed off, unsure of how to word it.  _Since Frank had left me? Since Gee beat Frank up and he skipped town? Since Frank left the band? Since Frank had left?_

Ray got out of his side of the booth and slid in beside me, putting an arm around my shoulders and pulling me in for a hug, I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes for a second, content in the knowledge that I was safe and that nobody was going to hurt me in Ray's arms. I knew that nobody would hurt me at Gee's house, but I'd had a bad few days there, so it felt good to be out and happy (ish) again.

"I know it's tough, Cass," he murmured as he rested the side of his face against the top of my head, "I miss him too. He was one of my best friends... but I think that Gee did the best thing. From what he's told me, Frank was using you for..." he didn't want to say it - and I didn't blame him -  _for sex_. "It doesn't sound like something he'd do, but Gee wouldn't have beat up his best friend for nothing. So let me tell you now... other than Frank, you are the only other person that Gee has ever cared about enough to seriously injure somebody for. Frank and Gerard have had each other's backs since day one... but you came along, and Gerard picked  _you_ over Frank. That's how much you mean to him, Cassia Way. He'd pick  _you_ over his best friend, the man who has always had his back. He picked  _you_."

I felt a little guilty at Ray's words. I hadn't really given him much of a choice, had I? Gerard had been forced to choose... and he'd chosen me... and for it, he'd lost a friend.


	33. Chapter 33

"Hey, Cass. Um, it's -" he was cut off by a splutter of coughing before he carried on, "it's Frank. I'm just leaving this voicemail to say bye. I, um, well I'm leaving town, and I probably won't be back for a while. Don't try calling me back because I'm gonna get a new number as soon as I get to a phone store. Just, uh... take care, okay?" He coughed again, "look after yourself... bye."

"Cass?" Ray was standing by my bedroom door at his house, and he was looking at me.

I sniffed and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. "Yeah? Uh, come in."

He walked over to the bed and got onto it beside me, putting an arm around my shoulders, "what're you listening to?"

"Nothing, it's just..." I trailed off, unsure of how to say it, "it's just a voicemail."

"It made you cry," he sounded almost appalled at the idea of something as seemingly small as a voicemail having such a huge effect on me, "who's it from...?" He trailed off, "it's him, isn't it?" I was silent, though I could tell from the way his muscles tensed and his silence that he knew the answer. "Is it recent? Is he okay? What did he say -?"

"It's not recent, Ray, it's from the day he left." I hung my head, and turned to look at him, taking comfort in the fact that (other than Chrissy), he might be the only other person who hadn't judged me about what had happened between Frank and me. "Can we talk about him for a second?"

He nodded slowly. "I miss him." He admitted slowly and quietly, "it feels like... it sounds dumb - and kinda gay - but it feels like a part of me is missing."

I nodded and bit my lip, "I didn't even know him that well, but he was something different." Ray nodded, presumably understanding what I was saying, "and it feels like I'm missing something."

"I wish I could see him one last time." Ray said in a voice barely more audible than a whisper.

I nodded once more, "same. I wish he'd have said goodbye properly. But Gee beat him up. Honestly, I kinda don't blame him for skipping town. I just wish that he hadn't." I said, Ray looked at me, and I could see the faintest glimmer of an idea forming in his eyes. "What?" I asked. After a moment, when he still hadn't replied, I repeated it. "What!?" I was more demanding this time.

"If you could see him once more," Ray said, "what would you do?"

"I'd ask him if he was really using me," I answered immediately, having already thought of this possibility and my answer multiple times in the past week, "because it sure didn't feel like he was using me."

"What if we could find him? See him again?" Ray retracted his arms and moved so he was kneeling in front of me on the bed, "I could find him, Cass. I'm sure of it!"

My heat soared at the thought of seeing him, and I found myself smiling a broad grin, unable to contain my excitement. "What!? Really!? You could do that!? You would do that!?"

"Uh huh!"

I threw my arms around him and squeezed, tightly. "You're the absolute best! Gah! I love you so much!"

He chuckled before grinning at me when I pulled away, "but we can't tell Gee because he'll stop you. So we have to be smart about getting away." He thought about it for a moment before snapping his fingers like a stereotypical 'I have a lightbulb moment!' idea. "That girl, Chrissy..." he trailed off, and I waited for him to continue, hardly able to believe that I might be able to see I'm again... maybe even feel his lips on my own again... "What if we told Gee that you and her were going on a 'girls' weekend' and that you were going cross-state!? I'd meet you about fifty miles from here, and we could go on from there!"

I clapped my hands together, "but a weekend... is that going to be enough time?"

Ray hesitated, "we can't really justify being gone anymore than two days." He paused, "besides, he might think it's a bit suspicious if I'm gone at the same time as you two anyways." Ray shrugged, "do you think Chrissy would say she was going with you?"

I nodded, "I think Chrissy would want to help. Heck, I think she'd want to find Frank with us."

"Great," he clapped his hands together in anticipation and excitement "call her now then. Get it sorted. I'll leave town... it'd have to be tonight. I'll pretend something came up when I drop you back to Gee's, and you sort it out with Chrissy for this weekend. 'kay?"

I hugged him again, giving him my answer.

 

* * * * *

 

"Chrissy?" She picked up almost immediately, of course, even though I knew that she had a date with Dan tonight. I felt kind of bad calling her whilst she was out, but this was urgent. And I knew she wouldn't mind.

"Hey! Are you okay!? Is something wrong!?"

I smiled. She cared for me, and she was already my best friend. "Everything's great! Listen, what're you doing this weekend?"

She thought for a second, "well I think Dan and Will wanted to write some new lyrics, but it's nothing I can't get out of."

"Great!" I grinned and held a thumb up to Ray, who was listening to my conversation, "Ray thinks he might be able to find Frank, and we're going to see him... but I think I won't be able to get away... unless I say I'm with you for a girls' weekend."

"Oh I see," Chrissy giggled, "you're sneaking out?"

I nodded, "will you cover for me?"

"Of course!" She exclaimed, "we'll say we're going for some bullshit exquisite hotel and spa weekend experience. Are we going cross-state?"

"Probably." I admitted, "is that okay?"

"Honey, I'll meet you at Gee's in two hours. I'll be packed and ready to go. We're leaving tonight. We're not wasting anytime. If we only have two days then we might as well make it three - include Friday as well."

"Great. You're the best. See you at Gee's. Bye!" I hung up and turned to Ray. "She's in."


	34. Chapter 34

Gee looked suspiciously at Chrissy, "and you're sure you're okay with this? With looking after her? What if something happens?"

Chrissy looked at me and grinned before she turned back to Gerard, "I won't be looking after her. We'll look after each other, right?"

I nodded, "come on, Gee, it's nothing serious. We're just going for three days. We'll be back on Monday."

"But -"

"If anything happens then I promise that I will call you," Chrissy interrupted, a pleading look on her face, "but I just think this will be really good for her. A few days away from the house, and you guys," she looked at Mikey then, who was sitting beside Gee on the sofa in front of us.

Mikey had come over for a barbeque because the sun had been shining for the past few days... but it was always like that where we lived. "Wha'd you think, Mikes?" Gee asked his little brother.

Chrissy's an adult, and Cass can take care of herself. I think you should let them go."

Mikey and I hadn't spoken about the thing that had happened between us, but we both knew that it had happened and that it needed to be acknowledged somehow... so he had taken to treating me more like an adult than he had when I'd first moved in... he respected my opinions, and me.

"Well... I do trust what you say, Mikey," Gee said, biting his lip and looking at his brother again, "and I do trust Chrissy..." Chrissy grinned, "but you have to promise me that this has nothing to do with Frank." He looked directly at me, and for a split second I felt bad for deceiving him... the man who had given me everything, and who had put me before his best friend. Gee loved me, and I loved him, but I loved Frank too, and I had to see him again. I had to confront him. I had to know the truth.

I nodded, feeling the guilt well up in my heart, but knowing that the weight of it was something I'd have to live with, "nothing to do with him. Swear. I swear on my mother's grave." I'd never believed in swearing on people's graves, because what was the worst that would happen? They'd come back from the dead to haunt you? That's fine. I don't believe in ghost, spectres, phantoms, or supernatural occurrences and creatures. 

"Well okay then..." 

"Yay!" Chrissy and me exclaimed, high-fiving each other and grinning like kids in a candy store.

"Come help me pack!" I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the hallway and up the stairs to my room.

* * * * *

"How about this?" She held up a red lace bra, "you want to look good for Frank, right?"  
I looked at the bra and sighed, "what if he genuinely was using me?" I didn't wait for her answer, instead I carried on speculating, "what if he doesn't want to see me? What if he's already found somebody else? What if -"

I was cut off by the red bra hitting me in the face. I watched it fall to the floor before I looked at Chrissy, an unamused facial expression on my features, "there's no need to think about stuff like that. Of course he'll want you. No, I don't think he was using you. I saw the two of you together at McDonalds, and he didn't look like he was acting. Neither of you did. And he'd be mad to find somebody else, because he'll never find anybody like you -" 

"Girls...?" Mikey was standing by my bedroom door, "your taxi's downstairs. I think Gee's just signing an autograph for the guy -"

Chrissy and me exchanged glances. Taxi? Neither of us had ordered a taxi, and that was evident from the confused looks on our faces. But then it hit me. Ray, I mouthed to Chrissy. She nodded.

"Oh yeah. I booked it. Thanks, Mikey." Chrissy said.  
He grinned, "no problem, Ladies," he turned to me, "I'll get your bag...?"  
I nodded and gestured to the purple suitcase on the bed, hurriedly kicking the red bra under the bed "thanks. That's really great of you."  
"No problem," he picked it up by the carry-on handle and went downstairs. I turned to Chrissy.

"I hope you're right." I said, referring to the reassurances she had made only a few moments before, "because otherwise I might die of embarrassment or heartbreak."

"Probably both," she told me, "and that'll be one long tribute on the gravestone."

"Gosh," I said sarcastically, turning to her, "you can write the eulogy then."

She giggled, "I didn't mean to offend you -"

"You didn't, Chrissy." I told her, "don't worry about it. But next time, let's not make jokes about my heart attack."

"I did a cover of that song, you know," she told me as we reached the front door and saw Mikey loading up the boot of the taxi whilst Gee was talking to the driver.

"I know." I paused, smiling wryly at her, "I'm one of your biggest fans, and have been for a while, remember?"

"Oh yeah," she grabbed her jacket which she had left hanging up by the door, "sometimes it's hard to remember that you weren't born into the celebrity life, and you didn't expect it. Gee literally showed up and said he wanted to adopt you, didn't he?"  
I nodded as I followed her out to the taxi and got into the backseat beside her, "it was the most amazing moment of my life. It made me the happiest - and without a doubt, the luckiest - person in the world."

Chrissy beamed at me, "okay. Let's go." 

I pressed the button which wound the window down and waved to Gee, "bye!"

"Have fun, Girls!" He called as the taxi driver pulled out of Gee's driveway and onto the road.


	35. Chapter 35

"Hey," Ray said as he greeted both Chrissy and me outside of the hotel, fifty miles from Gerard's house. It was where the taxi had taken us, "did he suspect anything?"

I shook my head, "I don't even think he realised we were both fooling him," Chrissy answered.

"I feel bad for lying," I told Ray, "but I have to know..." I trailed off, hardly daring to hope, "did you find him?"

Ray bit his lip, "why don't you come up to the room? I have some stuff up there I think you should see."

I swallowed and gestured to Chrissy to follow us, as I grabbed my bag and followed Ray up to the hotel room.

 

  
"So here," he handed me a file, and I flicked through it, "are pictures of Frank. They've been taken in the past few days."  
"You've been spying on him?" I said, though it wasn't really phrased as a question.

"I haven't, no, but I've gotten these from Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Also, I have had a rough idea of where he's been and where he's going, so I've had a friend of mine tailing him."

I looked at a photo of Frank. It was dated with yesterday's date. He was with a girl - a woman - who looked to be about the same age as him. She was pretty, with dark eyes and black hair, and they were virtually the same height, though the woman seemed to be quite chubby.

"Who..." I trailed off, unable to even fathom the idea of Frank being with another girl in the way he had been with me, "who's that...?"

I put a finger on the woman's body and looked at Ray, "is she...? She's not...? I mean, she and Frank aren't -?"  
"Together?" Ray looked at me, "no. They're not." He put a hand on my shoulder encouragingly, "that's Jamie Nestor. She and Frank were best friends in school, and then they kind of went their separate ways after that... but they've always talked, and when all of this happened, Frank called Jams and asked to stay with her."

"And where does this Jamia Person live?" Chrissy asked.

"California."

"Califonia!?" Chrissy and me chorused in excitement and surprise.

"We're going to Cali!?"  
"Well, I already called Jamia, and told her about everything. She said that Frank's been pining for you, Cass." Ray explained.

"Pining?" I echoed in surprise.

  
"Like a dog," Ray elaborated, "and apparently it's really distressing to witness."

"So you don't think he was using her, then?" Chrissy asked. Ray shook his head, "so what do you think he left for? Why would Gerard have beat him up if he wasn't using her?"

There was a deafening silence in the room and our eyes met. "It's not possible -" Ray began, but I cut him off.  
"He wouldn't -"

"Holy fucking shit." Chrissy cursed, looking at me with pity and dismay in her eyes, "maybe he would... he loves you enough to want to protect you... that much is obvious... and he picked you over his best friend, Frank... and -"

"He would do it." I said in surprise as I looked at Ray. "Gee -"

"Beat up Frank to make him go away and leave you alone." Ray finished.

"Why would he do that?!" I yelled, tears falling from my eyes as I realised the extent of what Gerard had done, why he'd done it, and... the fact that he'd lied to me - and everybody else - for over a week.

"I have to talk to him." I stated.

"You can't -" Chrissy was cut off by Ray.

"He'll know we're going to see Frank!" Ray exclaimed, "you can't call him! You can't say anything about this to him before Monday! He'll stop you!" He paused, "legally, you're still underage. He can have the police arrest me for abduction, and you won't be able to see Chrissy again."

"Cass, listen to me," Chrissy took my hand, "I know how you must feel about this, and I don't blame you... but you have to not call him. Gerard can't know. So I'm going to go to bed now, and I'm going to ask you to come with me. We're going to get into our beds, and we can talk about it - if you want - and Ray's going to stay in here - and tomorrow we'll get going at first light."  
"I booked plane tickets for nine tomorrow morning," Ray said, "so we have to get to the airport quick."

"Right. Okay." Chrissy turned to me, "you'll see Frank again, and you can ask him what really happened." She paused, "but you need to sleep on this. I'm sure that Gee was just trying to protect you. He was probably just trying to be a good dad, and keeping you safe. Maybe he was afraid that Frank would hurt you. But I don't blame him," she paused when she saw my face drop, "I mean, I know that beating Frank up was wrong, but Frank is almost twice your age, so he was just trying to protect you."

Ray looked at the scene unfolding before him. I was pissed at Chrissy. How dare she sympathise with Gerard! How dare you even pretend to know what he was thinking!?

"You're mad at her, aren't you?" I nodded and turned to Ray, who was looking at me sympathetically, "do you want to stay in here with me tonight?" I nodded again, "cool. Okay, sure. I'll take the floor or the -" he cut himself off as he looked at the chaise longue by the window which took up an entire wall of the hotel. I'd never stayed in a five star hotel before, but Ray (and the rest of My Chemical Romance) obviously had, so they knew the best hotels to stay in, "I'll take the sofa, and you can have the bed. 'kay?"

"Yeah," I replied, turning to Chrissy, "night." I was trying to be pleasant. I didn't want there to be an icy mood between us the next day.


	36. Chapter 36

It was pitch black dark outside and the stars were shining brightly into the room despite the cream chenille curtains that hung over the window. Chrissy had gone into the other room hours ago, and I had been in bed for what felt like forever... but it was probably four or five hours. I had no idea what time it was, or what I was still doing awake, but two thoughts kept my mind active.  _1) Gerard had lied to me      2) Frank was pining after me, which meant he still loved me_

"Ray...?" I said quietly, hoping that he'd answer me and we could talk. Fuck, I needed somebody to talk to right now. "Ray?" This time I called for him a little more loudly.

"What?" He grumbled from the settee, and in the light that the stars provided I saw him roll over, and face me, though I wasn't entirely sure whether or not his eyes were open.

"Can we talk?" My voice was small and quiet. "I need to talk. Please?"

He sighed and sat up, "okay. I know what you wanna talk about." He threw the spare blanket off of his legs and stood up, walking over to me and pulling my duvet back. "Move over, Cass." I did as I was told, trying to forget the fact that I had black silk and lace pyjama shorts on with a matching black silk and lace vest top. Ray slid into the bed beside me and laid his head back on the pillows. I followed suit, and we layed in silence for a few minutes before I spoke.

"Do you really think Gee beat him up just to protect me?"

"I think Gee would do anything for you, Cass." Ray told me.

"Do you think Frank still loves me?" I asked, hardly daring to hope, and barely able to speak in a voice more audible than a whisper.

"I think..." he trailed off, "I didn't see you and Frank together, but I noticed something...  _different_ about him between meeting you and before it all came out. I think he liked you," he answered carefully, "and I think he misses you. Jamia isn't somebody to exaggerate, and she said he was pining over you."

I was silent. "Do you think he'll be happy to see me again?" I asked after a few minutes.

I heard the fabric of the pillows, and I knew that Ray had turned his head toward me, "if it was me,  _I'd_ be happy to see you. I'd want you in my arms immediately... and I think Frank'd be mad if he wasn't."

"Ray..." I felt one of his hands lace with mine. "We shouldn't... we're here to see Frank... and it'll hurt Gee -"

"We're already hurting Gee by being here, Cass. Frank would never have to know. This could be something kept between the two of us..." he began to rub his thumb in a circular motion over my skin, and I turned my head towards him, blinking. "Tell me you don't want this."

"I don't -" he cut me off with a kiss. It was soft, at first, but then it turned into a passionate kiss, and he slowly sat me up, moving with me and not letting our lips disconnect. I felt Ray's fingers slip under my vest and brush across my nipples. I gasped. His skin was cold, and the contact felt wondrous. I moaned as he pinched my left nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

"Tell me you don't want this." With surprising strength that I hadn't expected him to have, Ray picked me up and sat me on his lip so I was straddling him. I knew I was being a slut the minute I wrapped my arms around his neck and began to grind onto him, feeling his dick getting harder with every second that passed. He tugged at my vest and I let my arms go up as I watched him bring the garment over my head and discard it onto the floor. He admired me in my bra and pyjama shorts, and I smirked at him as he began to work on getting the shorts off of me. It didn't take much work, and now I was just in my panties and bra, still grinding onto Ray, though I wanted to feel more of his skin. I slipped my fingers under his shirt and pulled at it. I felt him chuckle beneath me as he pulled it off and I explored his skin. He had a tattoo on his chest, something from a horror movie, but I wasn't sure  _which_ movie exactly. He was beautiful, and I felt guilty because I  _wanted_ him, and I knew that I could have him... or rather, he could have  _me_.

 

He had stripped me of my clothes and he was naked too. "I'm going to thrust into you so fast, Baby Girl, that you're going to see stars."

I was on my back and he was hovering above me, and I could feel his hard-on against my entrance. My heart was beating fast as I flashed a smile at him, "I can see the stars already," with one hand, I gestured to the curtains, "those curtains are shit."

He chuckled and placed another hungry kiss on my (now) chapped lips. Without another word nor warning he was inside of me, pushing in deeper, and I was moaning. Both from pain and delectation, and desire. He was now moving inside of me, ramming himself in and out, as fast as I assumed was humanly possible. Sex with Ray was more intense than it had been with Frank or Mikey, but I felt as though it was enjoyable. Not that sex with Frank and Mikey hadn't been, but with Ray... it was  _different_. Rough and needy. There was sweat covering our skin, and I could feel the fucking heat in the room.

"Gonna..." I moaned as he nipped at my neck, "gonna have to -"

"That's why I'm here, Baby Girl," he growled against the flesh of my neck, sucking it to leave a lovebite, "let go when you're ready."

Less than a minute after he had said that I felt myself release, and I moaned as he came inside of me. Clearly my orgasm had pushed him over the edge. "Hmmm," I sighed in ecstasy and pleasure as he pulled out of me and licked from my neck down to my entrance. "You're - " I was cut off by his tongue. It was inside of me, and around me. He was  _licking me clean_.

"You like that, huh?" 

I whimpered a 'yes' in reply and he smirked at me, pulling away and making his way back up my body until he was kissing my lips once more. I tasted cum on his lips, though whether it was my own or his I wasn't sure. Maybe it was both.

"You're fucking delicious," he whispered in my ear as he laid down beside me, "I know where Heaven is."

"Yeah?" I turned my head to him, still covered in a slight layer of sweat.

"Uh-huh." I waited for him to elaborate, "inside of you, sweetie."


	37. Chapter 37

I woke up to somebody running their hands up and down my body, sometimes pressing in gently, and sometimes keeping to one spot. "Ray," I sat bolt upright and looked at him. The duvet covered him from the waist down, and he was watching me, and I think he had been for a while. "We..." I knew I was naked, and I knew what had happened last night. I felt guilty. I loved Frank, and on a journey to see him again, I had slept with Ray... and I hadn't been drunk... it had been entirely consensual.

"Yeah." He bit his lip, "um, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but I want you to know that you were fucking amazing."

I gave a small smile and kissed his cheek, "Ray, I  _love_  Frank." I told him softly.

He nodded, "yeah. I know." He sounded forlorn, and I felt bad for him. We sat in silence for a minute before he spoke again, "do you think Chrissy's up? We have to leave soon."

I shrugged, "maybe. Shall I wake her up?"

Ray nodded, "I think you'd better." I pulled back the duvet and retrieved my bra and knickers from the floor. I put them on and then stood up, looking around for the rest of my clothes. "You're fucking beautiful," I turned to him and blushed.

"Um, thank you."

He smiled. "Okay, go see if she's awake. We don't want to be late - oh, and can you chuck me my phone? It's on the floor by the sofa where I was sleeping."

I threw him his phone and pulled my clothes on and then left the hotel room, heading next door to see Chrissy.

 

I knocked on the door. "Chrissy?" There was no reply so I knocked again, "Chrissy?" I sighed and reached into the pocket of my jeans, pulling out the room key that I'd collected from reception when we'd checked in the day before. I slid it into the card reader and the door swung open. I gasped. "Dan?! Why the fuck are you in my room?! And why the fuck are you naked?!"

As soon as I had opened the door, Dan's hands had gone to his dick to cover himself. Chrissy was just coming out of the bathroom, and she had a towel wrapped around her hair and one around her body which she had clasped to her.

"Oh, Cass..." she looked at me awkwardly, "hey."

"You bought Dan?" I said in surprise, though I wasn't angry. It hadn't been the initial shock of seeing a nude male in my hotel room that had me yell his name and swear.

"Uh, Dan bought himself." Chrissy bit her lip as she took the towel from her hair and threw it to him. He gratefully caught it with one hand and wrapped it around his bottom half.

"Ah the convenience of Snapchat Maps." Dan smirked, "but I'll um, go put some clothes on now." I nodded, "nice to see you again, Cass." I smiled awkwardly and watched as he turned to Chrissy, "I'll get dressed and then go," he walked over to her and kissed her lips, "thanks for a great night."

He grabbed a pile of clothes from the floor and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. I raised an eyebrow, "have fun last night, did we?"

She nodded sheepishly, "Dan tracked me through Snapchat Maps and then went to the receptionist and said he was my husband and he had forgotten his room number and simply  _had_ to know where I was."

I laughed, "wow. He could be a private detective." I heard the shower turn on and assumed he was getting into it.

"What about you?"

"What about me?!" I exclaimed in a nervous (and paranoid) tone of voice.

"I'm not an idiot, Cassia." Chrissy answered as she picked out a pair of panties and slid them on underneath the towel, "I heard you two last night. Fuck, I'd be surprised if Gerarddidn't hear you."

I blushed a deep crimson, "um..."

"Look, I'm not your keeper, okay? But just remember that we're going to see Frank... we're going because you still love him, and we think he still loves you. If you're not sure about it then we don't have to go -"

"No!" I exclaimed, "I am sure! I've never been more sure about anything in my entire life! I  _love_ Frank, and all I want is to see him again and to be in his arms again. The thing with Ray..." I sighed, "I don't know how it came about or why... I didn't even think Ray saw me that way -"

"Well he obviously does."  
"I know!" I hissed, "but I don't see him that way. So I just want to get the plane and see Frank again. Could you please get dressed? Ray says we're leaving soon."

"Yeah, sure." Chrissy offered me a smile, and I returned it before I went to the door and went back into Ray's hotel room.

 

"She up?" He asked when I walked back in. I nodded.

"Yeah, Dan was there too -"

"Dan Gow?" Ray sounded surprised, "the guitar guy from her band?"

I nodded again. "Yeah. I saw him naked."

Ray looked jealous, but I offered him a good-natured smile, "do not fret, Raymond," I said in a mocking tone, "his penis is not as big as your's." He still didn't look very amused, so I giggled a little, hoping to lighten the mood. It didn't work. "When do we have to be at the airport?"

"Plane takes off in an hour and a half," Ray replied, "so maybe twenty minutes? At the earliest."

As if on cue, Chrissy knocked on the door. I opened it and she grinned. "I'm ready. Dan's just getting dressed and then we can go."

"Dan's coming now?" Ray asked in surprise and annoyance.

"Well he'd  _like_ to," Chrissy replied, "if that's okay?"

I looked at Ray.  _Be nice. Let him come_. Ray facepalmed. "Fine. But tell him to hurry up. I only have three tickets. We'll have to queue up for his one."

Chrissy nodded and dashed back into her room, presumably to relay the message to Dan.


	38. Chapter 38

"You have got to be kidding me," Ray looked at the guitar in Dan's hand. "There's no way they're going to allow that on the plane without a proper license."  
"I didn't bring the license with me," Dan answered, "I didn't know I'd be flying to fucking California."  
"So don't come then," Ray retorted, flicking some of his fro out of his face before continuing, "won't be a big loss to us. You're just taking up a ticket and another seat in the taxi, you're probably going to slow us down."  
"You're an ass, Raymond Toro." Dan said sharply. "I'm only fucking coming because Chrissy wants to see Cass happy, and I want to see Chrissy happy."  
"We'll go home, Big Shot, and I'll send ya a picture."  
"Ray!" I snapped, unable to deal with the arguing any longer. We were in Ray's car on the way to the airport, and the two men were in the front whilst I sat in the back with Chrissy. He looked at me in the mirror, raising an eyebrow. "Shut the fuck up! Just stop being an asshole and let him come along!"  
"But -"   
I cut Ray off as I moved onto Dan. "And Dan, the guitar isn't coming. It's being left in the boot of the car - which isn't coming either," I shot a look at Ray, who was still watching me in the mirror, "and it'll be safe because we'll pay for some super secure car park thing. 'kay?" Neither of them answered. "Okay?" I reiterated, loudly and clearly, and a huge lump of sarcasm in my tone of voice.  
"Yes." They chorused in a mutter.  
Ray turned back to the road in front of us and took the turning for the airport.

* * * * *

"Jamia?" Ray answered the phone to Frank's friend, a tone of surprise in his voice. Obviously he hadn't been expecting the call.  
"Ray," I heard her say his name. His phone was loud, and it wasn't even on speaker, "Frank's thinking about going home. When're you gonna be here?"  
"I..." Ray trailed off as he picked up his suitcase from the other side of security. We'd just landed in California, and already the heat was getting to me. Chrissy had already been to the bathroom and taken off her shirt, changing it for something of lighter material. "We've just landed."  
"You're here?!" She exclaimed in surprise.  
Ray nodded, "yeah. Send me your address -"  
"Ray, I don't think he'll be here when you get back. He said he's coming to the airport now, and he can't be fucking asked with life anymore."  
"What does that mean?!" I asked Ray in a panicked tone of voice, afraid that it would mean the worst.  
"Nothing, Cass. I'm sure he won't -"  
"Cassia?" Jamia said, her tone perking up a little. "The Cassia? Cassia Way?"  
"Yeah. She's here. Like we discussed."  
"Wow, I'd love to meet her. Frank hasn't stopped talking about her. Honestly, it'd be an honour to meet anybody who made my Frankie feel the same way she does."  
Ray turned to me, "Jams wants to meet you... but Frank's on his way to the airport now -"  
"He hasn't left yet!" Jamia exclaimed.  
"How far do you live from the airport?"   
"Um, about twenty-five minutes." Jamia answered slowly and quietly, as if somebody was listening... maybe Frank was approaching her.  
"We'll be there in twenty. Keep him there, Jamia. Okay?"  
"Yeah. Okay. Bye, Ray. I'll send you my address. See ya soon." She hung up.  
Ray turned to me. "We have to go. Now. Where're Dan and Chrissy?"  
"Getting a Starbucks." I shrugged, "I'll go get them from the queue -"  
"Yeah, and tell them that if they've already paid then I'll give them the money back. Tell them to fuck the coffee, and let's go!"  
I nodded and sprinted into Starbucks, looking for my two friends.

I grabbed them, and without explanation, pulled them out of the coffee shop. I led them over to Ray, who was busy talking with a taxi driver waiting by the exit of the airport. "Get us to this address -" he showed the guy his phone, "in fifteen minutes and you'll get a five hundred dollar bonus, got it?"  
"It is difficult," the man, probably of Indian descent, (judging from his accent), said. "Fifteen minutes is not long."  
"Get us there in twenty and you'll get a hundred dollars."  
"I didn't say it was impossible." The man said. "Just difficult." He looked at the four of us, "come. I help you load up."  
We didn't have much luggage between us, just a suitcase each, though Dan had nothing other than the clothes he was wearing (he'd left the guitar in Ray's car).

Ray sat in the front whilst I sat in the back of the car, sandwiched between Dan Gow and Chrissy Costanza, the two of them making lovesick eyes at each other for the entire journey. It was sickening, though it reminded me of the way Frank and I had looked at each other, not so long ago.  
Frank. The thought of seeing him again sent delicious shivers down my spine and made butterflies awake in my stomach, flapping their wings as fast as they possibly could. I was going to see him again... talk to him again... maybe hold him again. I couldn't wait.  
"I don't know what kind of state he'll be in, Cass," Ray said after seven or eight minutes. I assumed we were nearing Jamia's house because we were entering a neighbourhood, and it seemed as though Ray was becoming more nervous as time went on. "So you have to remember that he could be..."  
I didn't let him finish his sentence, though he had trailed off. Instead I said, "he didn't leave because he didn't love me, Ray. He left because Gee forced him to. He gave him no choice, and for that I'm ashamed of Gerard. But Frank has been pining over me... that means he still loves me, doesn't it...?" I looked at Ray and then Chrissy. "Right?"  
The car was silent for a moment before the taxi driver said, "he be fool not to love you. You beautiful girl! He stupid boy! Go kiss him, show him what he missing."  
The four of us laughed a little. "Great life advice, Mr." I said in between laughter, "thanks."  
"And here we are." He pulled up and gestured to the house across the road.


	39. Chapter 39

As we walked up to the house, Jamia ran out of the house to us. Ray greeted her with a hug, and quick peck on the cheek. She turned to me and Ray, completely ignoring Chrissy and Dan's existence. "I managed to convince him to come in and have something to eat," she told us, "but he's almost done. Just finishing his ice-cream -"

"You gave him  _ice-cream_?" Ray said in surprise.

She shrugged, "it was his dessert, but if you go in there now he'll be just about done." She looked at me, "you must be Cass. Frankie's right - you're very pretty." She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously, "very young though. How old are you?"

"Um," I bit my lip, "twenty-four."

Dan snickered behind me and I turned round, shooting him a glare. "Uh huh." Jamia quickly pecked my cheek like Ray had done to her when we'd first arrived. "I don't really care, so long as Frank's happy. Why don't you go in and see him? We'll wait out here."

I nodded and walked towards the house, turning to look over my shoulder, a worried look on Jamia and Ray's faces, though neither seemed to be aware of the other's nerves.

The door was open when I reached it, so I pushed it open and gingerly stepped over the threshold, feeling very much like I was going to find a bloody corpse in the living room - the house was eerily quiet.

But then I jumped when I heard him. "Jams!?" I didn't answer. I just followed the sound of his voice, "Jams?! Jamia!?"

I reached the kitchen and turned the doorknob, pushing the door open and standing in the doorway. Our eyes met and his lit up, the spark in them that I had missed so much was visible from across the room.

"Frank," I said in happiness as he stood up and hurried over to me, catching me in a bone-crushing embrace.

"God, I've missed you so -"

"Why did you leave, Frank?" I asked, kissing his lips softly and then gently pulling away, "was it because of Gee beating you up?"

"He..." Frank trailed off and reached a hand up to his eye, which was still bruised black, "he... he told you about that?"

"Well I kinda worked it out," I admitted, choosing not to mention Ray and Chrissy's part in the theory, "but he did, didn't he?"

Frank nodded slowly, "but you can't be mad at him!"  
"What!? Why?!" I exclaimed, taking a step back from Frank, "he hurt you, Baby!"

"Yeah, he did, and fuck it aches and it hurt and I was in bad shape." Frank admitted, "but he did it to protect you. He was just being a good dad -"

"Fuck him being my dad!" I yelled, "I'm pissed at him for hurting you! I asked him - no, I  _begged_ him not to - and what did he do?! He fucking beat you up!" I paused, "and what was that shitty voicemail you left me!?"

"I..." he hung his head, "I just didn't want to worry you or ruin the thing you had going with Gee -"

"Frankie," I laced our hands together, taking a step closer, "I wished you'd have  _told_ me. I love you. I love you, okay? I want you to tell me things -"

"Gee told me not to come back." Frank said in a voice barely more audible than a whisper, "he told me not to come near you again -"

"Fuck him." I replied, interrupting him, anger and malice in my tone, "he can go to fucking Hell. I want you to come back with me. Please come back with me. Say you will?"

He was silent for a second, and momentarily I feared the worst... but then his green eyes met my own, and they were still shining, happiness buried deep within them, though I could see it slowly coming to the surface. "Of course. Yes. I want to come home. I've wanted to come back since the moment I left. Oh, Baby," he kissed my lips hard for a few seconds before finishing, "let's go home. Right now."

I nodded and let him lead me into the living room. I noticed a few items of clothing, and some belongings scattered around. He let go of my hand and picked up his stuff, shoving it all into a khaki green duffle bag before he took my hand again and led me to the front door, making sure to leave it on the latch so Jamia could get back in before he stepped out, gently pulling me out after him.

The first thing we saw was Ray and Jamia talking with Dan and Chrissy. Only Dan and Chrissy were facing towards us, so when they saw us emerge from the house, Chrissy threw up her arms in celebration and Dan pointed to us. Jamia and Ray turned and grinned. We hurried over to them, and Frank threw his arms around Jamia. "Thanks, Jams." He kissed her cheek in a platonic fashion, "you're the best friend I could ever ask for."

She smiled, "let go of me, Frankie," she playfully swatted him away, "and go kiss your girlfriend."

He did as he was told and turned to me. "Girlfriend, huh?" He raised an eyebrow and I smirked, "is that what you are, now?"

I shrugged and took a step closer to him, "I dunno... maybe if you want -"

He cut me off with another kiss. After a few seconds, Chrissy turned to Dan and kissed him, and I saw this out of the corner of my eye. I laughed against Frank and he seperated our lips. "What?" He asked, chuckling.

"Those two," I gestured to Chrissy and Dan, "they make me want to vomit."  
Frank's chuckle turned into a laugh, "I bet we're just as bad."

I nodded, "uh huh. I bet."

"Imma call a taxi -"

"I'll give you a lift to the airport." Jamia volunteered as she dashed back into the house to retrieve her car keys and take the door off the latch.

 

We had all piled into her car and she'd driven us to the airport. When we arrived, I got out first (I'd been sitting on Frank's lap). We'd made out most of the way back, and I had felt that he enjoyed it. Oh yeah, he'd gotten a boner. Dan and Chrissy got out afterwards, and Jamia and Ray followed. Frank grabbed his bag from the trunk, and then hugged Jamia, whispering something in her ear which caused her to laugh.

Ray hugged her too, though it looked entirely different from when Frank had hugged her. The hug with Ray was a little more unfamiliar. Chrissy and Dan just said goodbye, and I intended to do the same, but instead Jamia pulled me into an embrace. "Look after my Frankie, 'kay?" 

I nodded, "yeah. Thanks for, um, looking after him for a bit, I guess."

She let me go and we walked into the airport.


	40. Chapter 40

"Frank! Frank!" Ray, Chrissy, Dan, Frank and me all turned and saw several teenage girls (and a few teenage boys) rushing towards us, their phones out. "Ray! Chrissy! Dan!" 

One of the boys called out my name, and for a second, I was scared.  _How did he know my name?_ But then I remembered. Gerard Way was my dad. I had a Twitter account with several thousand followers, and a kiss that I had shared with Frank had been broadcast to the entire world. 

"Can I take a photo with you and Frank and Ray?" It was the same boy who had called my name. 

I looked at Frank and Ray. "He wants to get a photo of all three of us."

We posed, Frank's arm around my shoulder and Ray placed a hand on the boy's shoulder as he flipped the camera round and took a selfie of us all, "wow, thanks!" He turned and ran off, back to his mum who was watching us.

"Chrissy! Dan! Can I take a photo of you kissing?"

Chrissy and Dan exchanged glances, "well that's a little weird, but I guess." Dan shrugged and pulled Chrissy close to him, kissing her cheek and looking at the camera.

"No, a  _real_ kiss!" The girl exclaimed, giggling.

He kissed Chrissy's lips and the girl snapped the photo, squealed, and proceeded to wait around for (presumably) her friends, who were all vying for our attention, and photos.

After fifteen minutes, Ray had to fight to make himself heard over the gaggle of giggling girls, "okay, okay. It was great to meet you all, but we really have to go or we'll miss our flight -"

"You going back home!?" One girl called over the rest.

Ray nodded, "yeah."

"That's my flight!" Another girl yelled, squealing like a typical fangirl. A few weeks ago I would have squealed like that too.

"Look, it's really great to have all of you guys here, and on the flight with us, but we'd really like it if you stayed in your seat during the flight, or at least didn't run up and down like a crazy fangirl," Frank grinned, "we don't mind when we're on the ground, but it's not fair on the pilot - or the other passengers - if you make loads of noise and commotion."

"But when we land, we promise to take all the photos you guys want, 'kay?" I added.

"Okay!" They chorused like a class of young children answering their teacher.

* * * * *

Frank turned his head to smirk at me, and I tried my best to ignore the fact that we were flying in the air. I'd only flown a few times in my life, but all of those times I'd been nervous and I'd hated it.

"You wanna try something?"

"Unless it tequila then no." I answered, trying to calm my blood pressure and relax, "or xanax. Either would be good."

"Gee always flies with xanax." Ray interrupted, peeking over the back of the headrest in front, "he hates flying."

We smiled at Ray and waited until he turned around to carry on speaking. "How about I calm your nerves, Baby?" Frank put a hand on my inner thigh and I turned to him, grinning.

" _Oh_ ," I bit my lip, "what? Here?"

He smiled at me, and it was the best smile I had ever seen because there was something so  _secret_ about it. Frank shook his head and gave my hand a quick, sharp squeeze. "Ever joined the mile-high club?"

I shook my head. I knew what it was, of course, but I'd never  _actually_ -

He cut my thoughts off. "Do you wanna...?"

I unclipped my seat belt and stood up, grabbing his hand and pulling him up after me, not caring how obvious we were being as we hurried towards the first-class lavatory, which was little more than a small space, hardly big enough to turn around in, let alone  _fuck_ in.

 

He locked the door behind us and turned to me. I was quite literally standing with my feet on either side of the toilet. It was uncomfortable, but I could see that my spread legs were turning Frank on - he had a boner.

"Hmm," he ran his hands up and down my body, "I've fucking missed you, Baby." He kissed me, and I let him nip at my lip, feeling the familiar coldness of his lip ring against my soft lips. "You taste so fucking delicious - I forgot. How could I forget something like that?"

"Shut the fuck up, Frankie, and fuck me." I moaned as he ran his hands to the black pencil skirt which I'd put on that morning. I moaned as he slipped his fingers under my panties and began to finger me. I rolled my head back in ecstasy and pain as he scissored his two fingers.

"You sure you wanna fuck on a plane?" He whispered in my ear as he sucked at the soft skin there, so much like Ray had done... I pushed the thought of the other man out of my head and concentrated on Frank. Frank who I had come cross-country for. Frank who I loved so much. Frank who was finger-fucking me right now.

He unzipped his jeans and shoved them down his legs, using only one hand, and pulled his boxers down with them. He pushed my skirt up my thighs until he knew he would have full access to my folds. 

"Just go." I told him as our eyes met and he silently asked me if I wanted him to slick up. He nodded and pulled me closer to him, resting his two hands on either side of my hips, lining himself up against me.

"Get ready, Baby. Say my fucking name." I nodded and moaned loudly as he thrust into me, hitting my spot immediately. I had missed him so fucking much. He thrust in twice more, me crying out his name every time, before looking at me. "How close are you?"

"Close." I admitted sheepishly, "fuck me harder."

He nodded and went in twice more, this time faster and harder, all the time grunting and moaning in time with my own broken, disgruntled and pleasurable moans and whimpers.

I orgasmed after he did, which I was surprised about. He looked at me as he came inside of me, and I moaned, feeling his juices leak out of me around his cock. I orgasmed a few seconds later. He cleaned me up and pulled our clothes back to the way they had been only several minutes before.

We emerged from the bathroom, hand-in-hand, to see Chrissy waiting in front of the door, her arms crossed. She didn't look amused or impressed. "You two took for-fucking-ever," she scowled, "and if I go in there and get covered in  _stuff_ ," she looked at the two of us, "I am going to be so fucking pissed, and you will  _both_ owe me a new sweater. Got it?" We looked guiltily at each other and nodded. "Good. Now go back to your seats. Dan and me brought you a bottle of champagne to celebrate your reunion!" She went into the bathroom and we went back to our seats.


	41. Chapter 41

The plane landed and I turned to Frank. "That was the best fucking plane ride of my -"

I was cut off by the pilot's voice on the intercom. "Would everybody please stay in their seats. We're going to be having two policemen coming aboard, and we won't be able to let you off until they're..." he trailed off as an airhostess opened the cabin door and two policemen got onto the plane. The pilot had gone silent, and everybody on the plane was waiting with baited breath.

"We're looking for Cassia Way." The first one said.

I swallowed, and Frank, Ray, Dan and Chrissy all turned to look at me. Frank gave me an encouraging smile, I stood up, letting go of his hand. "That's me."

"Could you come with us please, Miss?" The second officer asked.

I looked back at Frank, and was acutely aware of the other passengers staring at me like I was a freak in an old-timey circus attraction. "Am I..." I swallowed again, "am I under arrest?"

"No, but we have your social worker here and -"

"My social worker?" I echoed, "why would she be here? I don't need her. I have a -"

"A court has ruled that it would be best if you went back to a community home." The first policeman explained to me.

I gasped and looked at my friends - at Ray, Chrissy, Dan and Frank.  _No! Gee wouldn't let this happen! He wouldn't! I wouldn't let this happen!_

"But... why?" I asked, tears forming in my eyes, "that's not -"

"If you'll come with us, Miss Way we will explain everything and hand you over to your social worker."

"No!" I exclaimed, turning to Frank and grabbing at him desperately, "no! I won't! You can't force me, I -"

"Mr Iero," the first policeman said as he strode up the aisle towards us. He reached us and looked at Frank, "please ask Miss Way to come with us."  
"No!" I yelled, "Frank don't let them -"

"You can't just do this -" Ray said, though Dan interrupted him.

"Surely this isn't legal."

The second policeman walked to the first one and then turned to Dan, "a court has ruled that a community home would be best for Cassia's wellbeing. We are simply here to deliver her to her social worker. Safe and sound."

"No!" I was now crying, trying desperately to hold onto Frank as I glared at the policemen, seeing them as my enemies. "You can't force me -"

"Gerard Way doesn't have custody of you anymore, Cassia." The second policeman said, trying to be soft and gentle with me. He put a hand on my shoulder, "come with us and we can try and sort something out -"

"No!"

"Will she be able to see Mr Way if she goes with you?" Chrissy asked, standing up and crossing the aisle to hold me, trying to calm me down and stop me from crying.

"It's unlikely." The first police officer was a bigger dickhead than number two, I knew that much.

"I won't go -"

"Cass, if you let go of Frank then maybe I can walk to the car with you -"

"That's not going to be poss -" Officer number one was cut off mid-sentence by officer number two.

"Just to the car."

I had now let go of Frank and was sobbing into Chrissy's sweater, trying to hide how upset and hurt I was. "Did... did Gerard have anything to do with this...?" I could hardly bare the thought of him throwing me back to the shithole where he had found me. Maybe he had worked out that we'd gone to see Frank and bring him back. Maybe he'd had enough of me. Of having me around. Maybe he'd realised that he didn't want a daughter after all, and he was happy with just Lindsey.

"No. He did not get a choice in the matter." The first policeman answered, "he wasn't even offered the chance to defend himself - or you - in court."

"That can't be legal." Dan interrupted.

"I'm a lawyer, and I'm fairly sure that Mr Way should have at least been offered a chance to defend himself and his..." he looked at me, "daughter... in court." One passenger said, standing up and walking the few metres to our seats.

"Sir, with all due respect, this really doesn't concern you." Officer two looked at the passenger, who quietly went back to his seat, and then he looked back at me. "Miss Way, if you come with us now, then your friend can accompany us back to your social worker's car, and we'll allow you to bring your belongings. They're being unloaded from the hold as we speak."

I looked at Frank who appeared to be almost as concerned, sad and lost as I was, and then at Ray, who looked bewildered.

"I..."

" _Please_ ," the second officer said softly. "Come with us."

I let go of Chrissy's clothes, instead grabbing her hand. "Okay." I could barely form the word. Perhaps this would be the end of my adventures with  _My Chemical Romance_. Maybe I'd never see Frank again. Maybe I'd never see Ray again, or Gee or Mikey. The thoughts whirring through my mind were so awful they ached to think about.

I followed the policemen off of the plane, and Chrissy followed me, though our hands were still laced together. I could not bear the thought of turning to Frank and waving goodbye, or kissing him goodbye in front of the policemen... that was probably what the whole thing was about. That was probably why I was back to where I'd started. A care kid, with no family, and no home to call my own.

 

The police accompanied us to Anna's car, on the tarmac, which I recognised. She got out of the driver's seat and greeted me with a hug, though I did not reciprocate the action, and as she did so she whispered a short sentence into my ear, "it's for your own good."

"Shut the fuck up." I answered, not bothering to whisper as I pulled away from her, turning to Chrissy. "Oh shit I'm gonna miss you so fucking much."

I was crying like a newborn baby, and so was she. Both of our mascara was running. "You're my best friend, Cass, you know that, right?"

I nodded and threw my arms around her, "I love you so fucking much!" I blubbered into her soft brown hair which was thrown across her shoulder. "Text me, okay? Don't stop texting. Don't leave me alone, okay, Chrissy?"

She nodded, "I promise. I'll call you as much as I can. Send you photos, keep you updated."

We hugged once more before Anna tapped me on the shoulder. "The policemen say your luggage is all loaded up in the back of the car." She paused and glared at Chrissy, "it's time to go."

I let go of Chrissy. "I love you. 'kay?" 

She nodded, "I love you too."

"Make sure you tell Frank I love him too." She nodded and watched me get into the back of the car beside my luggage. As Anna started the car and drove away from the plane, and some of the only people who had ever made me happy, I felt sick in the pit of my stomach, I had a headache, and I knew that I wouldn't be happy again for a while.


	42. Chapter 42

I glared at Anna out of the corner of my eye as we drove away from the airport and towards the foster home. "You're not saying much." She observed after twenty five minutes of tension so thick you could cut it with a knife, "is that because -?"

"You took me away from the only people in the whole entire world who love me?" I answered sarcastically, "gee, it might be."

"You're still under eighteen -"

"Big fucking deal!" I yelled, turning to her, lacing every word I spat out with venom. "So what?! I had a family, Anna! And you're taking me away from them!"

"You had a dysfunctional family!" Anna yelled back, though she still concentrated on the road, "you were having a relationship with your 'dad's' best friend, and had run away with his other best friend without telling him!"

"But that's nothing serious enough to -"

"I should never have given my consent for you to go with him." She sighed and pulled to a stop at a set of traffic lights, "I love you, you know that, right? I love you like I'd probably love my own kid. And that's why I made the final call to get you back. I just want the best for you. Maybe you can be adopted by another family and you'll have a new-new-fresh-start."

I looked at her, feeling tears fall down my face. "You and I both know that I will never find another family! I'm too old! I was lucky that Gee adopted me! And you've taken me away from the only people who love me and care about me - you say you do... but how could you do that to me?!" I paused and wiped my eyes on the back of my sleeve, "I had friends! A family! A  _boyfriend_."

"Who was thirty years old!" 

"I'm over the legal age of consent, age doesn't fucking matter!" I spat.

"You were living in cuckoo-land!" Anna yelled, carrying on driving as the traffic lights changed, "there was no way you were going to be happy there for the rest of your life! You got to live the celebrity life for a week and a bit, and that's great! I'm happy for you! But I have to do what's best for you - it's my job - and this is best for you."

We were close to the home now. I recognised the stupid little shops lining either side of the high street. 

"You might think you know me. You might think you care for me. Heck, you might even think you  _love_ me... but you don't. You will never know me, care for me, or love me like Gerard Way did. He's my dad, and you're just taking me away from him." I turned back to the window, "and for that, I fucking hate you."

* * * * *

_Chrissy?_

I waited for her to reply. And she did. Almost immediately.  _Frank insisted on going straight to Gee's, couldn't be talked out of it by me, Dan or Ray. Mikey was there and so was Lindsey. When they heard about what had happened they went mad. Worst than mad. They went ballistic. Gerard is calling lawyers, solicitors and every other law person he can think of. He thinks he can get you back, but it might not be for a while. He said to tell you that he loves you, and he always will. Frank hasn't said much, just apologised to Gee (I think they made up and they're friends now). Ray and Mikey took Lindsey home about an hour ago, and they got back pretty quickly. They brought pizza. Dan went to go find some support for the campaign - btw I think Ray set up an online petition. I'll send you the address._

I looked at the link in the message and then clicked on it. Immediately it opened up onto change.org and there was six words in the headline. GIVE US BACK OUR CASSIA WAY.

Underneath the title there was a description describing how I'd come to be in care (in as little detail as possible), and how Gee had found me and adopted me. It detailed some of the things we'd done in the past week, and described what a funny, loving girl I was and how the whole of MCR missed me (there was no mention of my relationship with Frank, though I could see a few comments underneath from users asking about it). 

I looked at who had signed it, and saw almost twenty thousand people had already. And it had only been online for two hours. I could see  _who_ had signed it. There were some people who I didn't know, probably members of the public... but then there were people I knew who had signed it.

Obviously, all of MCR had signed it. Chrissy, Dan and Will had, and so had all of  _Mindless Self Indulgence_ ,  _Panic! At The Disco_ ,  _Sleeping With Sirens_ ,  _Fall Out Boy_.

There were some comments from people too.

Pete Wentz:  _I had the insane honour of meeting Cass at a party the day after Gee adopted her. Never met anybody who knows how to have as much fun - or make as many jokes - as she can. Gerard is completely different without her... almost like an old man :) nah, but seriously, give Cass back to him. He needs her, and she needs him. They were made for each other._

Ryan Ross:  _Cass... Cass... what to say? Beautiful, smart, witty and amazing. The perfect daughter for a perfect guy (lol apart from Brendon, of course). She should be back with Gee right now, not lying in a foster home bed wondering if her dad is fighting for her... because he is. Stay strong, Cass._

Jimmy Urine:  _If all goes to shit and Gee can't have you, then I'll adopt you Cass and let you live with me until you're eighteen and can do whatever the fuck you want._

Chrissy Costanza:  _Cassia Way. My best friend. The most beautiful person I know, and the most intelligent and funny human on the planet. I dunno what the fuck happened with this mix up, but not long now and you'll be back in your own bed at Gerard's house, and I'll come for a sleepover and we can watch some stupid horror movie, okay? And we'll order pizza and flirt with the pizza guy and act like dumb teenage girls. I love you._

Lindsey Ballato:  _Cass. If you're reading this then know that your dad is fighting for you. So is Frank, Ray, Mikey... We all are. We all love you, Kid, and we all want you back. Fuck, we've only known you for a couple of days, and already we can't survive without you. And don't worry, I'll look after Gee for ya. Lyn-Z xx_

Lindsey's message made me tear up a bit. I wiped another tear away, wishing I could stop crying. I'd been at the home for nearing three hours now, and I already felt like suicide was my only way out. I knew that Gee, Frank, Ray, and Mikey were fighting for me... but there was no way the shitty system would let them win. Nobody ever beat the system. Then there were the messages from the public. They were of mixed opinions.

_Cassia Way...? Wasn't she fucking Frank Iero. I say good job she's back in care. And he's a paedophile._

_Cass Way deserves to be wherever she is happy._

_Why the fuck can the system just take a girl from her family and friends - her home - without a proper trial?!_

_This is fucking ridiculous. If this isn't in the media tomorrow and Cassia Way isn't back with Gerard by tomorrow, then imma do a protest myself. Anybody with me!?_

The last comment had fifteen thousand likes. I carried on scrolling through... and saw a message from Gerard. It was the first one that had been posted, and the first line made me cry so hard I had to stop reading for a second and recompose myself.

Gerard Way:  _To the most amazing, inspiring, funniest girl I've ever met -_ _Before I met you, I didn't know what or who I was. I knew I made music, and wrote comic books, but you were the first thing in my whole entire life that ever gave me meaning. With you I wasn't just a dad... I was a best friend, a protector, and somebody who was needed. You made me laugh, and you made everything so easy. Having you wasn't a chore, and it was something that I enjoyed - no, I loved - and don't ever let anybody tell you any different, okay? I don't know if you're reading this, but if you are, then give me some sign that you're okay. Just send me a letter or something (you know my address). Send me a text, or tell somebody who can tell me. I love you, and you're my world, even if you're not in it. All my love, Gee xxxx_

I took a deep breath and messaged Chrissy.  _Tell Gee I'm okay. Tell him I love him. Tell everybody I read their messages._

Her reply was instant.  _Okay xx_


	43. Chapter 43

The next morning, I woke up and saw the four bare walls around me, painted white for the next care kid that moved in, though the care workers hadn't realised that I'd be coming back... my walls, my room... it had once felt like home. Now it felt like a prison cell.

I remembered back to the day I'd first met Gerard. I'd just come from a prison cell, and I'd thought I'd be alone forever. Because who would ever love a care kid? And worst, who would ever love a seventeen year old care kid who had a criminal record, and self-harmed, and was an emo fangirl?

 _You were lucky to meet him_ , my brain told me,  _you were lucky to meet any of them. You were lucky to spend as long with them as you did... you were lucky to lose your virginity to Mikey Way, and be fucked by Ray Toro and Frank Iero. You had Chrissy Costanza as a best friend, and you got drunk with Pete Wentz and Joe Trohman and Kellin Quinn. You had a fucking amazing time with them... but now... not it's over... that was probably the last time you're ever going to be happy... or it's going to be a very long time at least_.

I sighed and closed my eyes again, not wanting to get up and spend the day thinking of the thousands of people hating on me, glad I was in care... and of the thousands of people who thought I should be back with Gerard and the rest of my family. I didn't want to think about Gee, who was probably in bed with Lindsey right now, probably worried about me, probably missing me.

I missed him so much. I missed Frank so much. I missed Ray and Mikey so much, and I missed Chrissy. I'd seen Chrissy everyday for almost two weeks, and now I had nobody. I'd had everything, and in one fell swoop it had all been taken away from me.

There was a knock at the door. I didn't say anything, and I refused to get up and answer it. My eyes were still closed, so I turned over and pretended to be asleep, wanting to avoid humanity. For today at least, though possibly forever.

"Cassia...?" 

I recognised that voice. I sat bolt upright and threw my arms around them as they sat on the edge of my bed. Tears were rolling down my face once more, but this time they were tears of happiness. It was Pete Wentz.

"Pete!" I cried, hugging him as tight as I could, so glad to see somebody I knew and liked.

"Oh God, you look awful," he said as I pulled away. I was wearing a  _Green Day_ t-shirt that I'd found under the bed the night before, and a pair of black shorts that had been borrowed from another kid who was roughly my age. 

I managed to smile, albeit a small one, "being stolen away from your family and friends will do that to you."

He hugged me again and kissed my cheek. "Look, Gee and everybody else is doing everything they can, 'kay? But there's not much they can do without a trial, and nobody wants to do anything illegal in case it decreases the chances of you being given back." He smiled encouragingly at me, "but I was speaking to your social worker, Annie -"

"Anna."

"Well it's an ugly fucking name, anyways." He answered, grinning at me. I giggled and found that I'd stopped crying, "but anyways, I spoke to her, and asked if maybe you could come home with me tonight until everything gets sorted out. I explained about the whole depression thing when Frank left, and said that you didn't eat for four days - that's what Ray told me, anyways - and I said that this could push you over the edge again." He paused and bit his lip, holding my hand, though it was a platonic action, and not one of romance. Of course it wouldn't be - Pete was dating Patrick. "And she knew about your wrists and stuff and your depression in the past, so she said it'd probably be best if you were with somebody who you trusted and who cared about you. Patrick's downstairs right now filling out the paperwork - and if you want to come home with us then -"

I cut Pete off with a other hug, and a fresh round of tears made an appearance. "You're the best!" I cried, "the best ever! I love you so fricking much, Pete Wentz. You're a genius."  
"But the condition is that you can't see anybody from  _My Chemical Romance_." He bit his lip once more and I pulled away, looking at him, still keeping our hands laced together, "and it's not my rule... but I agree with it... I think that if you don't see any of them for a while then Anna will see you as trustworthy, and she'll see Gerard as trustworthy because he hasn't tried coming near you or contacting you." He paused and let go of one of my hands, reaching into the pocket of his blue denim jacket and pulling out a piece of folded paper.

He handed it to me and I unfolded it. It was a familiar style of art, and I knew immediately that the artist was Gerard because he had that particular way of drawing his comic book characters... the drawing was of a comic-book-style teenage girl with black hair and brown eyes like me, and she was wearing one of my  _My Chemical Romance_ t-shirts and my black ripped jeans. "He drew me." I breathed, staring at the amazing picture, and his name which he had signed in the corner of the page.

"He said he loves you." Pete told me in reply, leaning forward and kissing my forehead, "so shall I go down and tell Trick and Anna that you're in?"

I looked at him and nodded, grinning. "Oh God... yes please, Pete. You're the best. Thank so much."

He smiled once more, "no problemo, Cassia Way. But I have to be a responsible carer, so no getting drunk with my knowing, okay?" I nodded, giggling, "and if you're going to stay up late, make it be on something productive. None of this social media shit... write some fanfic - but keep it PG - especially if it's about Trick and me, because that's just weird to think that you're writing..." he trailed off and shivered, "gross."

I giggled, "okay, thanks. Um, do you mind leaving the room? It's just that I have to get ready -"

"Oh, yea! Sure. I was going down now anyways. Trick and me'll see ya in a few?"

I nodded. "Thanks so much, Pete."

"Anytime, Kid."


	44. Chapter 44

"So we know you miss Gee and Frank," Trick said as he turned around in his seat to look at me. I was sitting in the back of Pete's black Porsche Panamera. "But you know you can't see them, right?"

I nodded and looked at my phone. I had a text from Chrissy, but I didn't bother reading it right away. "Yeah. I know." I answered quietly.

"But I was talking to Anna, and I think I managed to talk her round to the idea of maybe having them round for dinner one night?" I smiled at him, "but I think she wants to come over for dinner too, just to observe them with you and vice-versa. Do you think that'd be okay?"

I nodded again and suddenly felt like hugging him, though I knew I couldn't do this in the car since there was a chair between us, and if I tried it might distract Pete from driving.  "Yes!" I exclaimed.

Pete chuckled, "I've also spoken to Gee. He's totally cool with you staying with us until everything get's sorted, and he said he's gonna send you a present."

"I don't need a present -"

"He said you'd say that," Trick interrupted, taking a sip from the bottle of water in the cup holder by his side, "and he also said that you'd want this one."

We drove for a minute in silence before I spoke again, "I've never actually been to your house," I told them, "where do you live?"

"Well technically I live in Chicago," Pete explained, looking at me in the mirror above their heads, "but I can't take you out of the state until I've legally adopted you and the court proceedings are over -"

"Court proceedings?" I interrupted.

"Yeah. Gerard got up really early this morning and went down to the court, demanding that he got a hearing about you. I don't know what happened exactly, but I know that Mikey and Frank were with him, and I think Chrissy was too. Anyways, he got a court hearing scheduled for two this afternoon, and he's going to present evidence to show that you're best off in his care..." Trick explained, though he trailed off at the end.

"Am I allowed to be at the hearing?" I asked slowly.

Pete and Patrick exchanged glances before Trick turned back to me. "He sent us to get you, and said for us to take care of you. Sure it was our choice too, but he asked us to look after you. He said he didn't want you being caught up in all of the stupid court-y stuff and that you'd be better off for it." He paused and took another sip of water, "he also said that it would look better for him if there was evidence he'd told us not to let you go since it'd make it look like he was putting you first."

"Right..." I nodded, unsure of what to say to what Patrick had just told me. "Will Gee be at the court by himself today?"

Pete shook his head, "come on, Cass. You and I both know that he won't be. As if Mikey would let his big brother face something like a court hearing for his daughter alone. And Frank loves you, so he'll be there for support - and probably to present evidence - and Chrissy will be there to keep you updated. And Ray will probably be in the lobby or something answering the press' questions because that's what he's always been best at. And I know for a fact that Lindsey and Jimmy are going, and Dan and Will might be with Chrissy. Joe said he's going to go pick up Andy then he'll be going, and Kellin said if he could get out of the studio then he'd go - and he'd make  _all_ of the band go with him."

"You have a lot of support, and a lot of friends. You're in the news. A lot of people think what the system did is dead out of order." Patrick summed up, "and you have us."  
"Are you going to the court?" I asked, turning my phone on to check the time.

"Well one of us could, I guess," Pete mused, "if that's what you want... but we probably shouldn't leave you alone for a long time."

"I'm not a kid -"

"I know, and it's not because we don't trust you." Pete interrupted, "it's because we don't want Anna to catch wind of the fact we left you alone for a while - since technically you're still underage - and take you away from us, too."

"Oh," I paused, "can one of you go though? Tell Gee and Frank and everyone else that I'm okay?"

"If you wanna go, Trick then you can." Pete said, turning to his boyfriend.

"I don't mind. I'd actually really like to spend some time with Cass though, and get to know her better, since we didn't really get much time to ourselves at the party or in McDonalds." He looked back at me, "is that okay?" 

I nodded, "yeah. Of course it is, Trick."

"I'll go to the court then." He looked at the clock on the dashboard of the car, "I've got three hours. That'll be more than enough time for us to have some fun..." he trailed off and looked at me again in the mirror, "you up for the cinema?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, not bothering to remember which films were on or which ones I wanted to go and see. "Of course!"

"Cool, I think there's this new Disney movie out -"

"I wanna go see a horror movie." I whined, acting like a kid, "please, Pete?"

He looked at Trick and then in the mirror at me. He looked like a father looking at his two kids, wondering which one should get their way this time. "But I don't like horror movies, Pete!" Trick complained, crossing his arms against his chest, acting like the child I had just compared him to.

"Well I wanna go see a horror movie too, Trick. So how about we make a deal?" He didn't wait for Trick's reply - or mine. "Cass gets to pick the movie, and you can pick where we go for lunch afterwards?" He paused, waiting for Trick's reply. Does that sound okay?"

"I guess." Trick muttered, "fine."

Whilst they had been talking, I looked at the message from Chrissy. It was a text message with a picture attached. The picture was Gee and Frank, and they were both wearing white t-shirts with six words handwritten on it in black marker. GIVE US BACK OUR CASSIA WAY.

Her message was,  _they've stayed up all night drawing on t-shirts. We all have one, and they're handing them out right now at the court to the public. They're also signing autographs for anybody who protests with them. It's working, Cass. Frank's getting everybody who walks past (and who'll listen) to write their name down on a petition to get you back. Last time he counted (about twenty minutes ago) there were three hundred and forty-something signatures... and he'd only been getting it signed for two hours. Maybe you'll be back home with Gee by tonight. Love ya xx_

"Okay we're at the cinema," Pete pulled into a parking spot, "and just be prepared, Cass. We'll probably have to sign some autographs."

I nodded, "sure. I don't mind. I like seeing you guys get the attention."

Trick was silent, as if he were in thought. "Pete?" Pete looked at his boyfriend, waiting for Patrick to say something else, "you know that new track we've got to record?" Pete nodded, "could Cass maybe sing on it?"

"I -"

"You said you were pretty good at singing." Trick interrupted, "and Chrissy said you could go into the studio with her one day... why not come in with us, make an amazing song, and get famous? You could come on tour with us, and if you're super-duper amazing then you'll get more people wanting you on their songs, maybe you'll get your own record deal and then you'll be set for life!"

I bit my lip and looked at Pete and Trick, who had both turned round in their seats to see my reaction. "That does sound amazing," I admitted, "and I would love to be famous -"

"So you will?" Trick asked excitedly. I nodded and beamed at him. "Woohoo!" He exclaimed, punching the air - and colliding his fist with the roof of the car. He brought it back down and cradled it in his lap, scowling at Pete and me who were laughing at his accident.

"I'll text Andy and Joe and tell them to be at the studio tomorrow then. I'll give you the lyrics later, do you think you can learn them before then?" Pete told me.

I nodded, "of course."

"Great," he smirked and got out of the car, "let's go watch this movie... and don't tweet or tell  _anybody_ about the record. It'll be a surprise. A pre-release, okay? As soon as it's been mixed and mastered Butch'll release it."

I nodded, "okay. Great!"

 


	45. Chapter 45

"Hiya, Cass," Joe greeted me the next morning as he came to stand behind me in the line at the cafe, waiting to be served.

"Hey, Joe." I placed my order - a coffee and a donut, a bottle of water for Patrick, and two coffees for Pete as well as a dozen donuts for the band throughout the day.

"So I heard that you were recording a song with us today?" I nodded and took my coffee as the waitress handed it to me, "are you excited?"

"It should be amazing," I replied as I took a sip of my coffee, "Pete was telling me that if the song really took off and people liked my singing then I might have to go on tour with you all and perform on stage."

"And is that something you want to do?" He asked. I must have looked blank because he decided to elaborate, "perform? Sing? Tour?"

"Um," I retrieved the rest of my order and paid the waitress, taking the bag and looking at Joe, "I've never really thought about it - I mean, every teenager thinks they're going to grow up to be famous for something - but with you guys, and Gee, I actually have a chance at that. Like, people knew my name, and when I went out for breakfast with Pete and Patrick, Chrissy and some others the morning after the party, a girl asked to take a photo with me  _separately_." I paused, "I'd love to be famous for something, especially if it was something that I could do to help people. You and  _My Chem_ are my idols. You're so inspirational and make people feel better about themselves."

He collected his order and paid, "wow, that's so sweet." He paused and followed me out of the cafe, "and don't worry, I'm sure you'll do great." He paused and looked at me, "wait. You learnt the lyrics, right?"

I nodded, "yeah. I learnt the lyrics. Pete wrote an entire solo last night for me in two hours!"

Joe grinned, "yeah, that's Pete. He's great at doing things last minute."

I nodded again, "he seems like a lastminute.com kinda guy."

Joe chuckled, "he is. You'll get used to it."

I was quiet and took another sip of the coffee, adjusting my grip on the handles of the bag. "Do you know what happened at the court yesterday?" I asked quietly, "Pete wouldn't tell me, and I know he told Trick about it because when I asked Trick he immediately changed the subject to something stupid and irrelevant. It wasn't good, was it?"

Joe sighed and took a mouthful of his coffee, which was the only thing he had ordered. "The judge said that Gerard couldn't have custody of you," he admitted slowly, "and then Frank came forward and said he'd take custody of you... and the judge said that giving your 'relationship' it'd not be in your best interests -"

"So I'm not moving back to Gee's." It wasn't a question, though I had tried to phrase it as one.

"Not yet, at least." Joe answered as we crossed into the car park for the recording studio. We passed Pete's Porsche Panamera, "but I spoke to Gerard afterwards, and he was a mess. But he promised he wouldn't give up on you, and Frank said he loves you and hopes you're okay." He held the door to the building open for me, "Mikey said he misses you, and Ray said to not give up hope." He paused as he led me to the elevator, "and Lindsey told me she's going home with Gerard tonight so he isn't alone."

"But if the judge said no then what can he do?" I asked miserably, letting Joe lead me to what I assumed was the recording room.

"Gerard said he was going to repeal the judge's decision, and put his music aside completely until you were back with him." Andy replied as we walked into the room. I handed him one of the donuts from the dozen that I'd bought. "And he said he sent your present to Pete's. It'll be there for when you get home."

"It's already there," Pete corrected. "It's your car. Do you want me to have somebody pick it up and bring it here?"

I shook my head, "nah, it's okay. Don't worry." I took a bite of my own donut and sat on the sofa by the door, "so how much are you expecting to get done today?"

"Well, Demi Lovato recorded all of her vocals for  _Irresistible_ in one take." Trick said, grabbing a donut from the box I'd left on the table I'd left in the middle of the room, "but that's a lot of pressure so you don't have to -"

"We also have a music video to plan out and shoot, but we're not shooting it today." It was Butch Walker, the producer of  _Fall Out Boy_ , who had spoken. "And I also have the album design. Wanna see it?" The five of us looked up excitedly from our coffee and donuts and nodded. Butch reached into the briefcase which he had been holding and took out two pieces of laminated card. He turned them over and we all oo-ed and ah-ed at the artwork on them.  _You're seeing the new Fall Out Boy album cover!_ I screamed at myself, still unable to believe that I was here with them.  _How many girls and boys in the world would kill for this opportunity!?_

"That looks amazing," Pete said as he stared at it, acting as though the album art was the most marvellous thing he'd ever seen.

"It looks great," Trick agreed, turning to me. "By the way, Butch, this is Cassia Way. She's going to be doing some solo vocals for  _Pretty Motivation_."

Butch nodded and grinned at me, "it's great to meet you, Cassia." He paused, "have you learnt the lyrics?" I nodded, "great. Well once you're all ready we can get started."


	46. Three Days Later

Andy yelled, "hey, Cass, think fast!"

I turned around - faster than I had in my entire life - and caught the drumstick in one hand, grinning like a cheshire cat as the rest of Fall Out Boy applauded me. "Why the Hell did you just throw a fricking weapon at me?" I asked, though I was laughing.

He shrugged, "youtube."

"Youtube -?"

I cut myself off when I saw Butch walk into the room, just putting his phone into his pocket. "Okay, I uploaded it with the title 'guess who's featuring on the new album...?'" He paused, "and I turned the notifications off, but I'll check it again in about an hour."

"Would it not have just been easier to tweet it?" I asked, sighing, as I walked back over to Andy and gave him back the drumstick.

"Would it be more fun, though?" Pete asked, squeezing Patrick's hand, "and would it get as many views as that video will?"

I shrugged and looked at the lyric sheet in my hand, "okay, can we finish this then?"

The guys nodded and picked up their instruments, and went to their assigned places in the recording room whilst Butch left and went next door so he could master it. "Y'all ready?" He asked, we nodded, knowing that he could see us through the glass which seperated the two rooms, "okay. Playing the music now."

It started, and Patrick began to sing. I loved hearing him sing - I loved hearing all of Fall Out Boy. I didn't have to do much until he'd finished the first verse and the first part of the chorus... and then I started to sing. Singing was something that I'd always enjoyed... and so had my mum. We'd done it together, but after she'd died I hadn't done much of it.

 

"And that is live now!" Butch yelled as soon as he'd stopped the recording when we'd stopped singing.

"Live?!" We chorused in surprise, "how!?"

"It's a new bit of software - we're the first - sorry, you're the first - band to use it in the entire world." He paused, "it gets recorded and immediately uploaded." He paused again, "it's been live for less than a minute and it's already had over two-hundred downloads."

"Wow," Pete said, sounding impressed, "that's -"

My phone was buzzing as if somebody was calling me, but it stopped momentarily every few seconds and then started again. I took it out and looked at it. My twitter was blowing up - more so than it had been for the past few days since I'd been taken from the plane.

"Oh my God." I showed Trick (who was standing beside me), "I'm... everybody loves..."

"They love you!" Trick exclaimed, "you're going to be famous!"

@futuremrswentzinanidealworld : wow, love the new sound! @IAmCassWay is an amazing singer, and deserves to be back with @gerardway and with her family!

I turned to Trick. "Do you think everybody'll love me!?"

Pete hugged me from behind, and it was a little uncomfortable because I could feel the bass guitar pressing into my back. But I smiled anyways, "you're the best adoptive-adoptive dads ever!" I brought an arm up and brought Trick into the hug.

Joe and Andy chuckled, and I saw out of the corner of my eye that they were looking at their phones, probably looking at their twitter pages, watching the views and comments that the new song was getting.

"Aww, we love you too!" Pete and Trick chorused as they gave me a kiss. Trick's lips on my cheek and Pete's on the top of my head.

@gerardway : Such an amazing new song from @falloutboy and my amazing girl @IAmCassWay don't worry kid, we'll get this 


	47. No POV

Gerard sighed and turned to Frank who was watching his every move - and had been for a while. "You know how this is going to turn out?"

"No." Frank answered. Not because he didn't know, but because he couldn't bear the thought of it.

"Frank, it's probably easiest to just accept it. I love her too, but -"

"It can't happen - no, I won't  _let_ it happen." Frank answered, "it won't happen... no."

"Frank..." Gerard trailed off and put a hand on the other man's shoulder. They were friends again, but there was a rift between them now, and there was a wedge there that could never be removed. "Maybe if we don't make too much of a fuss we might be able to see her every once in a while -"

"No!" Frank yelled, startling the people in the court around him. They all turned to look at him, and he blushed, but didn't apologise for his sudden outburst.

"But look at her," Gerard held his phone up to his friend. It was a picture of  _her_ , and she looked happy. "And she's doing well. Pete told me on the phone yesterday that she's almost finished recording her first album, and she's booked to go on tour with  _Fall Out Boy_."

"That's great," Frank replied, "but she should be with us." He paused and sighed, "she's our Cass, and she should be sleeping in her bed in her room at your house, and going to Mikey's for breakfast and Ray's for movie nights and mine for dates -"

"Last time you talked about loving her, I kicked your ass," Gee pointed out, "don't make me do it again. It's..." he bit his lip, "weird when you talk about it. Please stop."

Frank shrugged, "I'm just saying -"

"I know what you're saying, Frank, and I completely agree," Gerard paused, "but maybe if we're smart about this then we might be able to see her sometimes, or she might be able to come for the weekend sometimes, or -" He was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. Gerard pressed the green button and put it to his ear. "Hey, Pete..." Frank couldn't hear what Pete was saying. "Yeah, sure. Um, next week? I dunno what the court will say about that - oh, you already got permission." He sounded upset, though it was obvious to somebody who knew him as well as Frank did that he was trying to hide it. "Well if she's happy then that's great. I'm really happy for her." 

"Tell him to make sure she knows I love her." Frank said to Gerard.

Gerard scowled but relayed the message nonetheless. "Frank said to make sure she knows that he loves her... and tell her that I do too. And that we miss her, and we're doing everything we can for her." He was silent for a second, "and Pete?" Another short pause, "look after our girl, will ya?" He hung up and turned back to Frank. "She's going on tour with them next Monday. Her first show will be on Tuesday."

"Can we get tickets for the show?" Frank asked hopefully, "wouldn't she love it if she saw us in the crowd?"

Gerard thought about it for a second and then shook his head slowly, "no, Frank. We're not going to get tickets for her first concert. As much as I'd like to be there, it wouldn't be fair to our Cassia. She'd see us, probably get distracted, and maybe fuck up... and it wouldn't be kind for us to do that. She's happy with Pete and Patrick, and she's doing well. We should just tweet her a good luck, maybe ask buy her a present and ask Chrissy to run it round there... but we shouldn't do anything that'll mess her up. If we really love Cassia then we'll leave her be."

"But she wants to be back with us, doesn't she?" Frank asked, sounding like a child deliberating whether or not Santa Claus is real. "...Right?"

Gerard sighed. "Of course," he put a hand to his face and was silent for a second, "but she's doing well. She's been with Pete and Trick for less than a week and she's already recorded a studio album, been signed to a record, and booked her first tour with a world-famous band." Gerard took his hand away and looked at his friend, "as much as it hurts me to say it, Frank, I think she might be better off without us -"

"But the court case! Her room! Her belongings!" He paused, "everything she has come to know about family, she learnt from us!"

More people were staring now, though Gerard hoped they'd turn away soon... Frank, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about the unwanted attention which he was attracting. "But she's got a family with Pete and Patrick now," Gerard took a deep breath, "and Frank, I'm not saying that we should just  _give up_ on Cassia... but I'm saying that we have to factor what's best for her into the equation. Yes, I want her back, and yes, so do you. Mikey and Ray want her back too, but..." he exhaled slowly, "I think we're not her best chance at a family."

Frank couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But... Pete and..." he couldn't form a coherent thought... but one small part of him was agreeing with Gerard. "They're just temporary!"

"But they said that if it came to it they'd take permanent custody of her," Gerard reminded him softly, "and Pete said it himself - he only wants what's best for her - he'd take her if I asked him to -"  
"No!" Frank bellowed again, "not now! Not ever! She's  _our's_ , Gerard! Our's!" He hesitated, "and don't think I don't appreciate Pete and Trick taking care of her, because I do... but she's  _our's_! Your daughter, my..." he couldn't bring himself to say the word. "She's  _our's_ , Gee, and we all need her."

Gerard looked at the monitor across the room displaying the convening times of each court case. He bit his lip and turned to his friend, "look, we'll try, okay? I'm not giving up on her. I  _love_ her... but if it doesn't work out then it won't be the worst thing in the world. She has people who love her, and people who will look after her and put her first." He hesitated, not wanting to upset Frank any further before they went in, "and though we always  _tried_ to do that, we didn't  _always_ achieve it. So Pete and Patrick aren't the worst choice in the world, 'kay? Just remember that."


	48. Chapter 48

There was a knock at the door. I turned to look in its direction, and then sighed when I realised that I'd have to get up to answer it. Pete and Patrick were still in bed despite the fact that it was almost half past twelve in the day. I threw the soft mink blanket back from my legs and stood up, walking into the hallway and over to the door. I opened it, and felt my heart soar.

"Hey, Cass," Gerard said quietly, in a tone that implied he could hardly believe he was here... on my doorstep... or Pete and Trick's doorstep, anyway. And beside him was Frank. I threw my arms around Gerard first and then turned to Frank. 

"Hiya, Beautiful." He smirked and kissed me softly, before he pulled away.

"Are Pete and Patrick up yet?" Gee asked. I shook my head.

"Nope, they're still in bed. If you wanna come in -" I cut myself off, "are you  _allowed_ to come in?"

Gerard nodded, "Baby, I spoke to Anna, and she agreed that I could have you for a whole twenty-four hours, and Frank could have you for twenty-four hours after that..." he trailed off, "since you're famous and all -"

"We thought we'd catch you before you got all Hollywood and forgot about us." Frank grinned and flicked a few stray strands of hair out of his vision.

I felt tears prick my eyes, and I wanted to cry because I was so fucking happy right now. "I'd never forget about you guys." I promised as I embraced them both at the same time, pulling them close. "God, I love you both so much! And I've missed you -"

"We missed you too," Frank told me, "but we're not technically allowed in unless Pete and Patrick know about it, so do you think you could go wake them up?"

I nodded, "you gonna wait outside?" They nodded. I shrugged and went into the kitchen and up the spiral staircase.

Their room was on the first floor, and right by the stairs, so I knocked on the door softly, waiting for a reply. When there wasn't any, I rested my head against the door, knocking once more, a little bit louder. There was still no reply. I put my hand on the door handle and pulled it, opening the door slowly and looking around the side of the door (I'd rather not see them naked, thank you very much). But luckily, they were clothed... or at least, they had underwear on. Both men were asleep on their stomachs, and both were snoring. Pete's arm was strewn across Patrick's body, whilst one of Patrick's arms dangled over the side of the bed. I giggled quietly at the sight of them and then cleared my throat. There was no reply. 

"Um, Pete?" He carried on snoring. "Trick?" Trick stirred, but didn't wake up. "Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III!" I yelled, startling them both out of their slumber.

Pete looked at me, sleep still clouding his gaze. "Huh? What? Oh, hey Cass. Why are you -" he pulled the blanket tighter around himself and Patrick, who was rubbing his eyes. "Could you maybe knock next time?"

"I did," I answered. 

"Oh well, I guess I didn't hear you then," Pete bit his lip and kissed Patrick's cheek, whispering "good morning" in his ear before turning back to me. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong, Pete." I replied, practically beaming at the thought of possibly spending the next forty-eight hours with Frank and Gerard, "but um, Gee and Frank are downstairs, and they say that Anna gave them permission to take me for two days?" I waited for his reply, but instead he and Trick watched me, still sleepy, but more awake than they had been previously. "And I asked them in, but they said that you have to be aware that they're here and give them permission?"

"That's right," Pete answered, "but Anna hasn't said anything to me about a meeting. Are you sure -?"

"I dunno, that's just what they told me." Maybe I wouldn't be allowed to go with them after all. The thought saddened me considerably. "But you could ring Anna and ask?" I asked hopefully.

Patrick and Pete exchanged glances, and then turned back to me. "How about I come down and make some teas, coffees, and breakfast, and you ring Anna?" Patrick suggested.

Pete nodded, "thanks, Trick. That sounds great." He grabbed his phone from the charger by his side, "um, Cass he'll be down in a sec, he just has to put some clothes on -"

"Yeah, right." I blushed, "um, sure. I'll wait downstairs?"

"Go put the kettle on, and ask Gee and Frank if they want anything." Trick told me. I nodded and hurried off to do as I'd been told. Perhaps I  _would_ be able to go with them... that thought excited me more than anything else in the world at that moment.


	49. Chapter 49

"Pete, nice to see ya again, Buddy." Gee grinned at his friend over my shoulder. Pete walked over to me and placed a hand on either one of my shoulders.

"Why don't you invite them in, Kiddo?" He asked, grinning at me. I nodded and turned my head back to Gee and Frank.

"Come on in. Patrick's cooking." Pete walked off, and Gee walked past me, following him. Frank held his arm out to me. Giggling, I took it, and we walked after Gee and Pete, straight into the dining room.

"I've missed you," Frank whispered into my ear, " _every single night_."

I giggled, and Pete shot me a knowing look. I blushed a little and turned back to Frank. "Don't say stuff like that to me when we're in public!" I reprimanded him in a whisper.

"Why?" He asked simply and quietly, "does it make you hot?"

"I -" I was cut off by Patrick coming into the dining room with a plate of bacon sandwiches in one hand. There were five piled one-on-top of the each other.

"My mum's secret recipe," he winked at me as he sat down opposite Frank, "and her little tip - pile them on top of each other."

I took one from the top and bit into it, suddenly realising that actually Patrick was an  _amazing_ bacon-sandwich-maker. Frank, who sat beside me, was watching me, obviously trying to conceal his laughter. Apparently I looked funny when I was eating a bacon sandwich.

"So, um, Pete," Gerard said when he'd finished half of his breakfast, "Anna said it's okay if we have Cass for a few days... but as long as it's okay with you -"

"Oh, sure. Of course it's okay with us, right, Trick?"

Pete looked up from his food, slightly confused. He obviously hadn't been listening to the conversation. Nevertheless, however, he nodded.

Gerard grinned like a kid with candy and turned to me, sitting on his right side. "So wha'd you wanna do today?"

I shrugged and finished my sandwich, "I don't mind. Honestly I'd be quite happy watching you do some boring paperwork..." I trailed off, "I've missed you, Frank, Mikey and Ray  _so_ much."

"She really has, ya know." Trick observed over the top of his coffee mug, "all the time. It's 'Gee this' and 'Frank that'." He smirked, "so if you're gonna take her then make sure you keep her safe and out of harm's way."

Gee smirked and put an arm around my shoulders, "as if we'd let the wind blow on her," he looked at Pete, "I'm taking her for twenty-four hours, and then Frank's taking the next twenty-four, 'kay?" Pete nodded, "we'll have her home on time, promise. Um, what's on time?"

Pete shrugged, "whenever. Just let us know about half hour before so we can, um..." he bit his lip, "get ready."

Frank chuckled, and we all turned to him. Patrick turned a bright shade of red, and Pete looked sheepish. "Okay. Sure." Frank said through giggles, "can we go now?"

Gerard smirked again, "uh-uh, Frankie." He paused, wagging his finger at his friend, "today's my day. I'll drop her off tomorrow."

Pete and Patrick were talking quietly to each other, whilst Frank and Gerard spoke. "Oh but I wanna have her today -"

"But today's  _my_ day." Gerard whined like a child, "you can her tomorrow."

"But I want  _everyday_ with her." Now Pete and Trick were watching the scene before them unfolding. " _Please_ , Gee?"

Gerard was quiet for a second. "But we don't know when we might get to see her again..." he bit his lip, "I really want some time with her."

"Gah!" Frank yelled, standing up and flipping the chair over behind him in anger, "I hate this! I fucking hate this!" He turned to me, "you're  _our's_! No offence, Pete and Patrick, I'm glad that you're looking after her," he turned to the two other men and smiled, though he turned right back to me, "but I fucking hate this! I want this to be over!" Now he turned to Gee, anger still raging in his eyes, "why isn't this fucking over?! Why isn't she our's yet?!"

Everyone was silent, and the tension in the room was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. "Maybe we should get going... um, Frank, I'll drop you home on the way, okay?"

I nodded and stood up slowly, putting a hand on Frank's shoulder to bring him back down to earth. "Come on, Baby," I whispered into his ear, "let's go. And I'll see you tomorrow so don't worry about it..." I turned to Pete and Trick, "thanks, Guys. See you in a few days."

"Have fun, Kid." Pete said, giving me a small wave, "call if you need anything."

"Yeah, I will." I paused, "bye."

Frank wrapped an arm around my waist and led me outside, "I'm gonna tweet that I'm finally back with you," Gee said from behind us, pulling out his phone and opening it using his thumb print, "it'll probably get loads of media, and it'll be good for the petition." I nodded, and he started to read out what he was typing.

_@gerardway : so happy to be spending the day with my girl @iamcassway hopefully you can stay for longer next time I see you. Thanks to @petewentz and @PatrickStump for looking after her!_

I liked the tweet immediately as soon as it came up on my news feed. God, I had missed being with Gerard and Frank... I had missed them so much.


	50. Chapter 50

We dropped Frank home and went back to Gerard's... it was weird - I no longer thought of it as home. Not because I didn't love it there, because I did, but because I somehow knew that nothing would ever be the same as it had been before - and that saddened me. My home now was with Patrick and Pete, and I had come to accept that.

"Well here we are," Gerard said as we drew up in front of the house, the automated gates closing behind us like they always had, "and your room's just how you left it."

I turned to him, trying to hide the sadness in my eyes. "Thanks, Gee." I wasn't sad because I was back... I was sad because it wasn't home anymore. We walked inside, "so what are we doing today?"

He turned to me and gave me a secretive smirk before running upstairs, leaving me to follow him. He was in my room, I knew that because I had heard the door shut after he had run in there.

"Gee!?" I banged on the door, hoping that he would answer. I had no such luck. "Gerard!? What are you doing in there?"

"Just grabbing some stuff before -" he cut himself off, "where the fuck do you keep your - oh, I got it." I think I heard a zip being done up, and then his footsteps approaching the door. He opened it and grinned at me. "Okay. I'm done. Ready to go."

"Only I need stuff?" I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms against my chest, "what are we doing?"

He put a finger to his lips, "not yet, Cass." He grinned, "you wanna go see Mikey and Ray?"

I nodded, "yeah!" If I didn't see them this time, who knows when I would again? 

"Go get in the car then." He followed me down the stairs and out to the car.

* * * * *

" _Cassia_?!" Mikey exclaimed as he pulled me in for a hug, holding me tightly and kissing the top of my head.

I grinned, "hey, Mikes."

"I didn't know you were -" he cut off himself off, "what are you doing here?!"

"I brought her," Gerard answered, grinning at his little brother from beside me. I had almost forgotten he was there - Mikey hadn't acknowledged his presence. "But I only have her for twenty-four hours so we can't stay for long -"

"Well come in!" Mikey told us, letting go of me and moving aside so we could come in, "I can put some food on -"

"Uh... we had a bacon sandwich at Patrick's and Pete's."

"But a coffee would be great." Gerard added, following his brother into the kitchen and sitting at the breakfast bar.

Mikey put the coffee machine on and then turned to me, "so what are you two doing today?"

I shrugged, "dunno. Gerard won't tell me." I looked at him, "but it has something to do with the bag he got out of my room."

"Hmm," Mikey said thoughtfully, thinking for a second before continuing his sentence, "am  _I_ allowed to look in the bag?"  
"Nope." Gerard answered, popping the 'p'.

Mikey looked at me and shrugged, "he's stubborn, Cass. If he won't tell you then you won't find out until he wants you to know."

I groaned and took the cup of coffee which Mikey was holding out to me, "but I wanna know -"

"Mikey?" He looked at his brother, "Mikey?"

Mikey sighed and turned to Gerard who seemed to act more immature than his brother did, "yeah, Gee?"

"Did you know she was going on tour with  _Fall Out Boy_?" Mikey nodded.

"Yeah, I heard about that, actually. Well done, Cass. I'm glad you found something to do -" He was cut off by Gerard.

"I have an idea."

"Does it involve telling me what we're doing today?" I asked curiously.

He shrugged, "might do. Depends." Gee paused, "why don't you do a competition?" 

"Like what?" Mikey and me chorused.

"Well when you go on tour, do a giveaway thing, and the winner gets to meet you,  _Fall Out Boy_ , and gets exclusive after-party tickets."

"And why would I do that?" I asked.

"Because it gets you more publicity, and it's good for your fans to see you interacting with them." Mikey explained, "he's right."

"I have fans?" I said in surprise.

Mikey and Gee nodded in unison. "Everybody has fans, Cassia." Gerard explained, "and you have more than most seventeen year olds." I waited for him to continue, "because I adopted you, and Chrissy's your best friend. You live with Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump, and you're already singing, and have a huge song out... which, by the way, hit number four on the charts in three days."

I nodded slowly, "all that stuff is great, Gerard," I agreed, "but nobody's going to want to meet me -"

"Didn't you go out for breakfast and a fan asked to take a picture with just you?" Mikey asked. I nodded again, "well there ya go then. You're famous already, and now you're singing. It's a good idea, Cass. I'd enter if I were a teenage fangirl."

I giggled, "thanks for the confidence boost, Mikey." He shrugged, "but I really don't think it's a good idea."

I shrugged, "maybe... I'll, um... I guess I'll ask the rest of the band about it."

"Yeah, you should." Mikey agreed.

I looked at Gerard, "so can you tell me where we're going now?"

He looked at Mikey and then back at me. "Okay, fine." We waited with baited breath for him to tell us. "We're going swimming!"  
"Awesome!" Mikey exclaimed, "I love swimming -"

"Not you, Mikes." His face fell, "not this time. Today's just me and Cass' day."

"Oh." He bit his lip, "oh that's cool, I guess. Um, tell me how it goes, I guess?" 

Gerard nodded, "yeah. Definitely. Thanks for understanding, Man."

 


	51. Chapter 51

"Gee." He turned to me and smiled, though he quickly turned his attention back to the road, not daring to look away for more than a second at the time, "we've been driving for forty-five minutes. Where are we going?"

"Swimming." He answered, not looking at me.

"But  _where_?" I asked again, "are we driving to Hawaii to go swimming? How long are we going to have to drive for?" God, I sounded like such a kid, whining and complaining.

"The beach." He answered in a tone that implied his answer was perfectly plausible and obvious, "obviously."

"No way!" I exclaimed, my heart beat racing with excitement, "I haven't been to the beach in years! Oh my God!"

He chuckled, "so it's worth the long drive?" I nodded enthusiastically, "great. And I think this beach has some theme park shit as well, so we can go on some rides too if you want -"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, practically exploding with zeal, "yes! Yes! Yes!"

He chuckled again and continued driving, though I was now dying of over-excitement.

* * * * *

We parked right by the sea front, and I turned to Gerard, who was grinning like a kid on Christmas day. "Okay, even I'm excited now," he said as he got out of the car and walked over to the parking metre, buying a day-ticket.

"Yeah. My heart might explode with -"

"Wanna go for a swim?!" Gerard exclaimed like an overexcited child. I nodded enthusiastically.

"Fuck yeah!" I punched the air, turning to him, "race ya to the water!"

He was holding the bag he'd gotten from my bedroom, and I now knew what was in it. A towel, a fresh change of clothes, and probably a swimming costume.

"Woh, woh..." he threw the bag to me, and I caught it, looking at it and then pulling the zip open. "you gotta put a swimming costume on now," he paused, "I put mine on earlier. Now you do your's."

"What?" I asked, looking around us, "here?"

"What? No, of course not -" 

"Excuse me? Gerard?" He turned and saw two teenagers standing behind him. He must have looked confused, because the boy said, "Gerard Way?"

"What? Oh, um yeah. That's me -"

"Can we get a photo with you?" The girl asked, "you're our hero."

"Gee, take a picture with -"

"And you're Cassia!" The girl exclaimed, "oh my God! I love your song with  _Fall Out Boy_ , and I bought tickets to your tour!"

"Oh wow, really!?" I asked excitedly, unable to believe that I was meeting one of  _my_ fans.

"Yeah! We love you, don't we, Ben?!" The girl said, elbowing her friend - Ben.

The boy nodded, "uh huh. We're like, your biggest fans. Can we get a photo with both of you?" He asked hopefully. 

Gee and me nodded. He slipped an arm around my shoulders and the two teens got in front us, with the girl pulling out her phone and putting it into selfie mode. We posed and she took the photo, turning to us once more. "Wow, thanks so much!"

"No problem!" Gee said, "have a great day!"

 

I'd gone into the public toilets to change into my swimming costume. I pulled it out of the bag... and was met with a bikini top. It was black, with tassels, and it was new... from the day I'd first gone home with Gerard. 

When I came out, I was wearing the bikini, and my t-shirt over the top. Gerard smirked at me. "Wow," he looked me up and down, and anybody else would have been uncomfortable... but I wasn't. "You look..." he chuckled, "dumb. The t-shirt without bottoms look stupid -"

"Well I can't wear my jeans." I answered, "that'd look even stupider." 

"I don't think stupider is a word," he grinned, "but can we go swimming now?"

I nodded, "yeah!" I threw the bag to him and dashed to the seashore, "Gee, come on!"

He raced after me, though I had stopped for a second to take my t-shirt off, he threw the bag atop my t-shirt and left the rest of his belongings with the bag and t-shirt, a few metres from the water and running in after me. I was now up to my waist in the water, and it was refreshing. The ends of my hair were becoming wet, and the water lapped around me.

We swam out for a little bit, laughing and splashing each other before he grew bored. "Can we get ice-cream now?" He asked, whining like a child, "please...?!"

I giggled, "well only if you're paying -"

"Oh, 'course I'm paying, Cass. It's my day with you. I'm paying for everything." I nodded and he picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder so the top of my head grazed the water, giggling all the while, "I want vanilla!"

"Vanilla!?" He said in disdain.

"Yeah! What's wrong with vanilla?!" I asked, still giggling.

"It's boring!" Gerard declared as we neared the shore and the water reached just over his knees, "you're gonna get the most fucking outrageous flavour in the whole damn shop and I am gonna watch you eat it -"

He put me down on my feet and handed me the towel from the pile of our belongings - I dried off and pulled my t-shirt over the top of my head. We walked to the ice-cream parlour, animatedly talking about which rides we wanted to go on, and what had gone on in the time we hadn't been together.


	52. Chapter 52

"Finish your ice-cream or you can't go on the roller coaster!" Gerard told me as he paid for our wristbands for the theme park on the pier, "look, I finished mine!"

He gestured to his empty hands, and I licked my ice-cream cone again, "yes but you only got one scoop." I reminded him, "I got three."

"Just shove it in your mouth, Cass," he led me through the entrance gates and over to a bench, "because I wanna go on the monorail."

"But I'll get brain freeze." I complained, though I began to lick more quickly, "can't we just play some games in the arcade -?"

"I did not pay nearly $50 for us to play in the arcade," he said, "so hurry up and eat. We'll spend fifteen minutes on the arcade games, then we'll go on a few rides and then we'll play on the games outside, 'kay?"

"What kind of games outside?" I asked, unsure of what he meant. That was the problem with Gerard - he didn't always explain himself.

"I mean, the hook-a-duck," he said, "or the coconut shy. Um, maybe the basketball ones, too?"

I smiled at him, "I can't finish my ice-cream quickly." I held the cone out to him, "d'you wanna try?"

He took it from me and  _bit_ a tonne of it off. "Now try." He said, after swallowing the mouthful.

I raised an eyebrow at him and took the cone back, "you just  _bit_ my ice-cream."  
"Yeah?"

"How do you stand the cold?" I asked, quickly licking the ice-cream, "I can barely lick it without getting cold."

He shrugged, "I dunno. I just do, I guess."

* * * * *

"Gee, you know these things are rigged, right?" I looked at the coconut shy, "they're made so it's not possible to win."

He took his wallet out, handing a dollar to the guy running the game, "three balls please." The man nodded and handed Gerard the balls, giving him a short introduction to the game and how to play.

"Gee?" I tapped his shoulder. Clearly he had not been listening to me. "Gerard?"

He turned to me and shrugged, "Imma try anyway."

I sighed and moved a little away from him so he had space to throw. Three balls later, and he hadn't won anything. He paid for another three balls and threw them quickly in turn, "not winning anything, huh?" I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms against my chest. He turned to me again and smirked.

"How much for the purple pug?" He pointed to the toy hanging from the top of the game tent. 

The owner of the game looked up at it and then back at Gerard. "It's not for sale. You gotta win it."

"$10?" Gerard said, taking out his wallet again and ignoring what the man had said. The man was watching him, but was silent. "$30?"

"$50." 

Gerard cursed under his breath and then said, "fucking lot of money." Nevertheless he pulled the money out of the wallet and handed it to the man. The man got the stuffed toy down and handed it to Gerard. Gerard turned to me and held the stuffed toy out. I giggled and took it. "You were right, 'kay? These games are rigged."

"I know." I said, clutching the stuffie to my chest, "I told you."

"Look, I just wasted $2 on it, and then $50 on a stuffed toy. Don't bring it up again, okay?"

I nodded. "Sure."

"Wanna go swimming?" He asked excitedly as we walked away from the coconut shy.

I nodded, "I  _always_ wanna go swimming."

 

We raced down to the beach again, dropping our stuff a few metres from the water once more. I went into the water first, dropping down so my entire body was underwater as soon as I could. Gerard watched me from the shore. I called out to him, waving him in, "Gee! Come on!"

I didn't know why he had hesitated to come into the water, but he followed me in after I'd called out to him. We swam out further than we had before, laughing and splashing each other. At one point he disappeared, and I looked around frantically for him... he came up from underneath me, and I found myself being lifted out of the water. He threw me into the water, and I resurfaced giggling and vowing to get my revenge on him.

Eventually we swam out so far the people on the beach were just specs. "Hey, Cass..." he trailed off and I looked at him, "if you get eaten by a shark then I'm gonna carry your mangled corpse back to shore, 'kay?"

I giggled, "if you get eaten by a shark, Gerard Way, then I'm just gonna leave you and save myself."

"Cass?" I looked at him, "my legs are kinda tired. Do you mind if we find somewhere to rest for a while?"

I shook my head, "I think we might have to swim back to shore though -"

"Nah, I bet there's an alcove thingy somewhere round here." He looked around us and saw some rocks piled up on top of each other, and a small patch of sand (about the size of two double beds beside each other). "We can swim there. Come on. It's not far."

It was a lot further than it looked, but eventually we made it there. I sat down on the sand and felt the grains sticking to me, but it didn't bother me much. Gerard sat next to me, breathing deeply for a few moments before he turned to me. "You having a nice day?" I nodded, "good. I um, I wanted to take you out somewhere really special and spend a shit tonne of money on you and buy you everything -"

"You don't have to -"

"But you should have everything, Cass. You deserve the world." He was staring at me. I turned my head so our eyes could meet, and I saw the sincerity in his eyes.

"Gerard..." 

He knew I didn't love him back, but he couldn't resist. He leaned in a little closer, our foreheads touching. Dear God, he couldn't fight against the thoughts that were going through him. My very smell was flooding his senses now. 

In that minty moment, my senses had been seduced and I could no longer think straight. "Cassia," he whispered slowly, prolonging each letter as if to savour them. I smiled, my heart fluttering at his voice as I clasped my hands on either side of his face. Never before had my name ever felt so wonderful a one, I think, as I lean in for another. The next thing I knew, he had slammed his lips to mine and nearly knocked all wind from my lungs.

I hardly had a moment to react before he pressed his tongue to the seam of my lips and, at my grant of access, delved inside my mouth. It was a very sloppy kiss with the strong scent of salt water being exchanged in the intermingling of our billowing breaths. My arms reached up and tangled around his thick, strong neck. In an instant I had pulled away and arched up into his broad chest, moaning in the contact of body heat against my own, before I drew back into his lips. I could nearly feel the slight burn of the salt as it rolled off my tongue and seeped down my throat with every push of his tongue against mine. I was completely unprepared. You would think that after all the hours I'd spent with Gerard - watching him talk, laugh and frown - that I would know all there was to know about his lips. But I hadn't imagined how warm they would feel pressed up against my own. I hadn't anticipated how good it would feel when he pulled me on top of him and he began to grind against me, running his fingers up and down my body, just a few layers of polyester between us.

With the water lapping at our feet, every pretence fell. The facade we show the world melted away and all we wanted was to fuck each other's brains out. Every kiss had a raw intensity - breathing fast, heart rates faster. Then before I knew how it happened we were naked and our skin was moving softly together, like the finest of silk. I felt his hand enter from below moving fast, our tongues entwined in a kiss, and then he was inside, changing my breathing with every thrust, hearing my moans timed to his body. And then all at once he stopped and kissed from my breasts to my stomach, his hands light; then he was licking and using his fingers all at once, watching my reaction, feeling how my legs moved, watching my body writhe in pleasure. He told me he was going to make me beg for it and I just let out a moan, unable to articulate a response. In seconds he was on me again, fucking me harder, just long enough to intoxicate my mind before stopping again. If it was begging he wanted, he would have to stop long enough for my brain to start working again first...

 


	53. Chapter 53

The drive home was icy, and the tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. Neither Gerard nor I wanted to talk about what had happened between us, and neither of us wanted it to ruin our relationship... we didn't want it to get out, and we definitely did not want it in the media. We were just coming back into our town now, and I suddenly felt as though I did not want to go back to his house with him. I turned to him, and he noticed my movement. He looked at me. "Could you maybe just drop me off at Pete and Trick's?" I asked.

He nodded and took the turning towards their house -  _our_ house - and pulled up outside, not bothering to drive me all the way up to the front door. He gave me a kiss on the forehead. "Don't forget your bag and stuffed toy." He told me.

I nodded, reached into the back and grabbed them, and got out of the car. Gerard watched me go into the house, and then he drove away.

 

For a second I leaned against the front door, hardly able to believe what had happened that day. I'd had  _sex_ with Gerard. The man who I had once seen as a father figure... and now I'd had sex with every member of  _My Chemical Romance_... I was such a whore. I sighed and dropped my bag and stuffed toy to the floor before I went into the living room -

I was met with the most horrific sight I had ever seen. Patrick was riding Pete's dick, and they were both butt naked. "Ew, Guys!" I exclaimed in horror, "gross!"

They looked up at me in unison, blushing, and I dashed into the kitchen, in desperate need of alcohol. Let's face it, it had been a rough day. I rummaged through the cabinets and cupboards but found no alcohol. I sighed and stood up straight again, letting my head spin for a few seconds before I went over to the door leading down to the cellar. I opened it and went down, glad to see several bottles of varying brands of alcohol. Vodka, rum, whiskey, port, wine... you name it and it was there. I grabbed a bottle of wine and headed back up the stairs, only to be met by Pete at the top of the stairs.

He was wearing Patrick's shirt, and his own underpants beneath that. "Sorry about that, Cass." He said, eyeing the bottle of wine, "we thought you were staying at Gerard's tonight...?"

I bit my lip, "yeah, I was... I just um..." I sighed, "I missed you. I'll uh, drive over to Frank's tomorrow, 'kay?"

He shrugged, "whatcha drinking?"

"Uh, wine." I held the bottle up to show him, "it's been a rough day and I just needed something -"

"Hey, you don't have to explain to us, okay?" I nodded slowly, "you're going on tour in just a few days, and on tour there's no way for us to be with you every minute of everyday. So we have to trust you there... and we trust you here too." He bit his lip, "but um, just don't overdo it, okay? If you get caught drinking then you'll be taken away from us and then I don't know what will happen... and the truth is, Cassia, I like you living here."

I threw my arms around him, "aww Pete," I grinned, "I like living here too."

"Is she scarred for life?" Patrick asked as he walked into the kitchen. Pete moved so I could get past. I went over to Patrick and wrapped my arms around his middle.

"Yep," I smirked, "just... God I'm so glad you let me come home with you. I'm so glad you came and got me that day -"

"Woh, woh. What's all this?" Trick asked, slightly concerned by my sudden display of affection, though he hugged me back.

"Nothing," I promised, "I just love you two so fricking much."

"Aww, Kid," Pete walked over and wrapped his around me from the back so now it was like a Trick-Cass-Pete sandwich, "we love you too."

"I think I'm gonna go upstairs now. Do you mind...?" I asked.

"No, not at all." Pete said, letting go of me. I took my arms from Patrick and pulled out of his embrace, "I think Trick and me were just going to go for a walk though. Will you be okay by yourself for a while?"

I nodded, "I was a care kid, Pete. I've spent the last six years of my life alone practically."

"Yeah well you're not alone anymore, Cassia." Trick put a hand on my shoulder, "and you never will be again."


	54. Chapter 54

I heard him before he appeared in the kitchen doorway. I turned, a mug of coffee for both of us in either of my hands, "morning, Trick -" I cut myself off. He was grinning like a cheshire cat. Nobody should be that happy in the morning. "What are you so happy about?" I asked jokingly as I walked over to him and handed him his mug of coffee.

"Nothing -"

"Well it's obviously something," I answered as I took a sip of the bitter drink, but delighting in the immediate rush of energy I felt in my veins. Caffeine was amazing.

Trick giggled, and I knew that he had to tell me. Because something that made him that happy was something that he couldn't be quiet about for long. "You have to promise not to tell Pete..." I nodded, and he took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

My eyes went wide and I choked on my coffee, spluttering loudly and coughing it onto the floor. Trick giggled again at my reaction, but patted me on my back, trying to get me to bring up whatever was left in my oesophagus.

When I had recovered, I turned to him, a huge smile on my face. "You're gonna be dads!"

"We're gonna be dads  _again_ ," he corrected me, putting his free hand on my shoulder, "we've got you, remember?" He paused, "and you're gonna be a big sister! Aren't you excited!?"

I nodded, "I'm fricking ecstatic for the two of you!" I paused, "any names yet, Trick?"

He blushed a beetroot red, "well I want its surname to be Wentz," he told me, "maybe Lacey-Willow for a girl? Lacey-Willow Wentz... it flows, and sounds pretty, don't you think?" I nodded in agreement, smiling encouragingly, "and um, Dimitri for a boy? I dunno. I've never had to name a baby before." He shrugged, "I'll let Pete do the naming bit."

"Ooh, are we getting a puppy?" Pete asked eagerly as he walked into the room and over to the coffee machine. "I get to name it? Great! I wanna call it Alan because it'll be funny to call its name we're at the park -"

Trick and me exchanged glances. "Um, I think I'm gonna just sit here and be quiet." I pulled myself up onto the kitchen counter across the room from them and waited for Patrick to tell Pete about his news. He had to now, right? Pete thought they were getting a puppy... but they were getting something much better.

"Uh..." Trick looked at me desperately, but I shook my head and pretended to zip my lips closed. No way was I helping him out with this one. It was his news, not mine. "Well Pete, we're not getting a dog -"

"Or any pet for that matter." I interjected.

Pete and Trick looked at me and then turned back to each other. "But we are, um, gonna be getting something to name...." Pete looked so confused, bless his heart. "Pete, we're gonna be dads. Um... I'm pregnant."

Pete's eyes lit up like two bright flames in the night and his look of confusion disappeared, replaced by a look of shear excitement and joy. "I'm gonna...  _what_?!" He asked, hardly able to take the news on board.

"Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz," Patrick put his coffee mug down and walked over to Pete, taking the other man's hands in his own, "you're going to be a dad."

I think Pete was crying. I  _know_ Pete was crying. He had tears falling from his eyes, and Patrick was cradling him in his arms despite the fact that he was shorter than Pete. "Oh my God..." Pete repeated this over and over, and Trick was rocking him slowly back and forth.

"Hey, hey..." he trailed off and kissed Pete's cheek, "I'm the pregnant one. I'm supposed to be crying..."

Pete laughed against him softly. "I just never thought I'd get this opportunity..."

"Oh? What opportunity, Petey?" Trick whispered against his lover.

"I never thought I'd get to be a dad... a dad from start to finish. I'm gonna get to hold this baby the day it's born, and see it everyday until it moves out and has kids of its own." He smiled and pulled away from Trick's embrace, "wow. Thank you so much, Trick. I love you so goddamned much."

Trick smiled adoringly, "I know you do, Pete. Our kid is going to be so loved."


	55. Chapter 55

"Frankie?" He had picked up the phone almost immediately.

I could almost  _hear_ the smirk on his face as he said, "hey, Cass. Whad'ya wanna do today? Gee told me that you, uh, didn't stay at his last night, and um, I didn't know if you'd want to stay at mine tonight -"

"Look, Frank, do you think we could maybe do something else today?" I asked, an idea having already planted itself in my mind.

"Sure, Baby," he replied, "but like what?"

I went out of the room, leaving Pete and Patrick snuggled up with each other, Pete's head resting on Trick's stomach where their baby was. "Trick's pregnant -"

" _What_?!" Frank exclaimed in surprise. "Pregnant!?"

"Yeah, and I was thinking maybe we could throw them a party -"

"Like a baby shower?" He asked.

"Kind of, but not really. Baby showers usually happen closer to the due date. I think he only found out this morning, and he only just told me and Pete today."

"I'll be over in twenty minutes, okay? Be ready to go. We have some party planning to do." He hung up and I smirked.

 

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang and I ran to answer it. Sure enough, Frank was standing there, and he looked adorable. He had brushed his hair and put red eye shadow around his eyes, and was wearing black leather from head-to-toe. I looked him up and down before he pulled me in for a small peck on my forehead. "Morning." He smiled.  
"Morning." I replied, smiling back, trying not to think about the possibility of him fucking me today... no. I didn't want that to happen. Not because I didn't love Frank, because I did, but because I was a whore. A dirty slut. I had slept with every member of  _My Chemical Romance_ , and I didn't deserve to be with Frank (who I considered to be my boyfriend) because I had technically cheated on him with Gerard, right? 

"You look nice," he gestured to my outfit. I was wearing a purple nebula spaghetti strap top with black ripped jeans and a black leather jacket. I had also straightened my hair, and it was now falling down my back. 

I smiled, "thanks, Frankie."

"Do they know what you're planning?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm gonna send them a text later and make up some lie about them both having to leave the house for a few hours so we can get everything set up -"

"You mean it's  _tonight_?" He whispered in surprise.

I nodded, "we have to have it tonight. We don't know when they're going to tell everybody, and then the surprise will be ruined!"

"What surprise?!" Pete called from the living room.

"Um, nothing!" I called back. I turned to Frank, "just...  _please_? Help?"

He nodded and smiled, "of course I will, Kitten, I just think it's gonna be hard to get everything done in time."

"But it won't be impossible." I told him, "I've already called Chrissy and Lindsey. They're going to spread the party news, and tell everyone to be here for six."

He nodded again, "okay, um... cake first? Do we need flowers -"

I shushed him. "Don't talk about it here!" I whisper-exclaimed, "they might hear!" I went into the living room and smiled at the two of them, still cuddled up together like they had been when I'd been on the phone to Frank. "Um, bye Dads. Frank and me are going now." Pete and Patrick looked at me in surprise and I realised what I had said. "Oh God, I'm so sorry -"

"No, it's..." Pete trailed off, " _nice_. At least when Potato comes along -"

"Hold up," Patrick said, " _Potato_?"

Pete grinned, "it's the baby's nickname."

"There is no way I am calling my baby bump  _Potato_ , Pete." He said in a tone that implied he was quite adamant about it, "people will think I'm fat! I don't know any other guy who's ever been pregnant... people will think I'm fat!" He started to cry and Pete grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently.

"Aww, don't cry, Trick." He said affectionately, "we can call it whatever you want. And then we can pick its real name together, okay?"

Trick wiped his eyes, and sniffled. "Okay, Pete..." he trailed off, "I wanna call it Pickle."

Pete raised an eyebrow at me but didn't say anything. "Hello, Ickle Pickle." Pete said, moving his face so it was an inch from Trick's stomach, "I'm Daddy." He looked at Trick, who was watching him adoringly, "can it hear me yet?"

I laughed a little and turned to see Frank coming into the room behind me, "I don't think it can." He said, "hey, Guys."

"This is not what it looks like." Pete promised, looking up at Frank and getting off of Trick's body.

"I'm pregnant, Frank!" Trick declared happily, standing up and pointing to his belly, "I'm gonna be a daddy! We're gonna be daddies!"

Frank chuckled, "really?" He looked at me, purposefully not mentioning nor indicating that I had already told him. "That's great news, Guys! I hope I'm gonna be Uncle Frankie -"

"You're gonna be Brother Frankie!" Trick declared, acting like a child, "because you're gonna marry Cass and see the baby every time she babysits -"

"Woh." I held my hands up to signal Patrick to stop. Frank was watching me, an amused expression on his face. "That's um... too quick, Trick -  _Dad_." I paused after correcting myself, "Frank and me don't even know if we're in a rela -" he cut me off mid word.

"Well we haven't had the conversation yet, Guys, but I'd really like her to be my girlfriend." I turned to him and blushed. "She's the prettiest girl in the world, and the only one for me."

"Aww, Frank..." I hugged him and he kissed the top of my head, despite the fact he was only a few centimetres taller than me, "you're so fricking romantic." I smirked, "I'd look cute on your arm, wouldn't I?" He nodded, and I remembered that Pete and Trick were just watching us, "I'd love to be your girlfriend."

He kissed my lips softly and then pulled back, looking bashfully at Pete and Patrick. "Um, sorry. It just... I had to do that."

Pete scoffed, "don't worry about it, Frank. It's cute. And don't worry about Cassia... she's seen us in some pretty unpleasant -"

"I don't want to remember it so please don't bring it up." I said firmly, though I had to fight to hide the laughter in my tone.

Frank, Trick and Pete laughed, though Frank didn't know what I had seen them doing... but I gathered he had some idea. "Well, if you don't mind, Pete and Patrick, we'll be going now..." Frank laced our fingers together and gently tugged me out of the room.

"Bye!" I called as he pulled the front door shut behind us.

 


	56. Chapter 56

Frank and me drove over to the mall, parking almost directly in front of the doors and going inside. We looked around for a party store, and hurrying towards it when we saw one.

I opened the door, going inside first, and turning to see Frank follow me inside. He grinned, "I don't even know where to start planning this, so I think we should, um -"

"Hi," a girl tapped Frank on the shoulder. He turned, nearly shrieking in surprise. I managed to hold in my laughter... but barely. "I'm Lucy. Is there anything I can help you with?" She had appeared right on cue, and that was a little spooky.

Lucy looked like an idiot. She looked like on e of the stereotypical popular girls at school, and I hated her immediately. But she didn't recognise Frank, and that was good. And of course she wouldn't recognise me... I wasn't as famous as Frank or the rest of  _My Chemical Romance_.

"Um, yeah." Frank said, "we're planning... I dunno what you call it." He turned to me, "what kind of party would you say it is, Cassia?"

"Well it's a celebration of my, um..." I bit my lip, "my mum's pregnancy. She only just announced it this morning, and we're having a party to celebrate tonight. But it's not a baby shower, it's just a celebratory thing."

Lucy looked bored. "Oh, right." She answered in a monotonous tone, "well wha'd you need?"

"Well we dunno. We've never had to plan a party before, right, Cass?" 

"Yeah, right. But we don't need invitations. My friends are just calling people and telling them to come."

"Oh, right." She repeated in the same bored tone, "decorations? Food? Drink?" Lucy asked, "what else do you need?"

"Decorations definitely. Party games, I guess. Um..." I trailed off, "can you just show us some stuff and then we'll decide if it's necessary?"

Lucy shrugged and nodded, walking off to a different part of the store. We followed her, walking in complete silence.

 

"Streamers, banners, bunting, paper plates, cups, party favours..." she gestured to the aisle in front of us, "everything you'll need is here."

Frank picked up a blue stack of paper cups with the words 'new baby' on them. "These good?" 

I shook my head. " _No_ ," I took them from him and put them back on the shelf where they'd come from, "because we don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet. Everything has to be neutral colours."

Frank turned to Lucy. "Thanks for the help. That's all we'll be needing."

She shrugged again and strode off, though this time we did not follow her. "You need these?" He held up a pack of streamers. They were in white, pink and blue - gender neutral. I nodded, "and these?" He picked up a ten piece set of paper plates that matched the streamers.

I nodded once more. "See if you can find the bunting and other decorations to match."

We hunted round the store for almost fifteen minutes before finding the rest of the collection. "I think we're gonna need a trolley." Frank observed. He was holding everything we intended to purchase in his arms, and looked like he would drop it all at any minute.

I grinned, "can you manage for a few seconds? I'll go get one."

I walked off, not waiting for his answer. I headed to the front of the store, assuming that people left trolleys (or at the very least, baskets) by the door before they left. I was right, of course, and I quickly took the trolley and began to push it back the way I'd come.

 

I groaned quietly when I rejoined Frank. He was talking to Lucy, and they were both giggling like elementary school kids. "Um, Frank..." I trailed off, "hey... uh, Lucy." I stared at her as if she were gum on the bottom of my shoe - an annoyance, a  _plague_ \- that was really fucking annoying me.

"Oh hey." Lucy answered, turning back to Frank. "So you'll pick me up tonight?"

Frank was silent, and I was raging at him, though I daren't speak a word.  _I was his girlfriend! Was he fucking flirting with Lucy? Taking her to the party tonight -?_

My thoughts were cut off by Frank's next sentence. "No." I stared at him in surprise, "I have a girlfriend, Lucy, and I wasn't inviting you to her - mother's -" he had to think of the lie we'd told earlier and recall it, "pregnancy party. I was simply telling you of it. So I will not be picking you up tonight, nor ever for that matter, and quite frankly I think your customer service skills are poor, and I will be recommending to your manager that you take a course in the basis skill of not flirting with your customers." He turned to me, grinning smugly like he'd done something naughty that I didn't know about. But he had done nothing naughty, and I loved him so much after what he'd just said to her that I wanted to kiss him right there and then in front of the world - in front of  _her_.

"Oh." She answered in a small tone, "maybe I should, um..." she bit her lip, "I'll go find someone else to assist you with your shopping." She dashed off without waiting for our reply.

I turned to Frank. "You're so sweet," he grinned, "and let's not worry about waiting for another shitty staff member. Let's just go pay and move on. I hate shopping."

He chuckled and dropped the items into the trolley before pushing it after me and to the tills.


	57. Chapter 57

I had to text Pete and Trick, telling them to go out to the cinema to celebrate the news of Trick's pregnancy. And after not very much persuasion, they told me that they'd left the house and were on their way to the cinema. So then Frank and I got to work decorating the house, getting all of the food onto the plates and bringing the alcohol up from the cellar. 

I had asked Chrissy to come a little early to help us set up, and as promise she turned up half an hour before the other guests were due to arrive. She looked pretty (as always) with black skinny ripped jeans, a white cropped top and a black leather jacket on. And she had dyed her hair a bubblegum pink, and it really suited her.

I hugged her when I answered the door to her - I hadn't seen my best friend in ages! "Okay, so I um, hope you don't mind, but I invited this new band -"

"Are they good?" I asked curiously.

She shrugged, "I've only heard a few of their songs, but I think they're amazing -"

There was another knock at the door. I opened it, and on the doorstep was Dan and Will... and three girls by their side. The girls looked to be about the same age as Chrissy - twenty two - they looked like the kids in high school who didn't fit in, and who didn't have any friends besides each other.

"Cass, this is Addy Hobbs, Ellie Woodland, and Rhaella Smithers." Chrissy explained, gesturing to each of the three girls in turn. "They're  _ Modern Day Catastrophe _ ."

Addy, the first girl who Chrissy had gestured to, had dark brown hair and big brown eyes. She was pretty, and I would lay money on her being the singer of the band. The second girl, Ellie, had brown hair, brown eyes, and was the tallest of the three girls, she also wore glasses that made her eyes look bigger. They suited her. Rhaella, the last girl Chrissy had gestured to was average height, a little pudgy, with big boobs and a low cut dress on. She had brown hair which was obviously dyed, and blue-grey eyes.

"Hi." I said, "I'm Cass -"

"Pete's daughter?" Rhaella interrupted. I was quiet - what could I say? What would Pete  _ want  _ me to say? "He talks about you all the time -"

"He knows you then?" I asked in surprise.

"We're distant cousins or something. Sometimes we meet at family gatherings. I've been talking to him a lot recently about the band and our first single which is coming out next month. He gives great advice, and he was the one who helped us find a label to sign us." Rhaella explained. "I bet he's so excited about that baby, isn't he?"

"I didn't spend much time with them this morning, but he seemed super hyped for it." I answered, turning to Dan. "D'ya wanna come in? There's booze in the kitchen, and Frank's out in the back garden putting the finishing touches to the decorations. I just don't really want you making a mess of anything or touching the food yet. Is that okay?"

He grinned, "sure." He went inside, Will followed him and  _ Modern Day Catastrophe  _ followed them. 

I turned to Chrissy, "so how are you and Dan going?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She giggled, "pretty great," she admitted, "I think he's going to ask me to move in with him soon. I mean, he better. We've been dating for almost three years!"

I giggled, "aww, I'm sure he will. He's mad about you..." I trailed off, "who else did you invite?"

" _ Mindless Self Indulgence, Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, obviously Andy and Joe, Ray, Mikey, Gerard, Dan and Will _ ..." she trailed off, "and a tonne of others.  _ Sleeping With Sirens _ ,  _ Black Veil Brides  _ -"

"Maybe we should have ordered more food -"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," she offered me an encouraging smile, "I bet some of those people won't even turn up."

"Hey, did you invite  _ Panic! At The Disco _ ?" Addy asked as she reappeared behind us, a red plastic cup of booze in her hand.

"Um, yeah. Why?"

"I'm dating Ryan Ross. I wanna see my boyfriend." She answered in a tone that implied her answer should have been obvious.

"Ryan Ross?" I raised an eyebrow, "isn't he dating Brendon Urie?"

She looked annoyed. "No!" Addy yelled, "that was before! But now he's dating  _ me _ ." She turned on her heel and walked off, back into the kitchen.

I turned to Chrissy, "he was dating Brendon Urie, right?"

She nodded. "Last I checked."

"Either she's cuckoo or he's bisexual." Chrissy giggled, "possibly both. I don't like her much."

"To be honest, neither do I." Chrissy admitted sheepishly, "I prefer Rhaella. Rhaella and me have always been close."

I nodded, "she seems nice. A little energetic, but nice all the same."

Somebody kissed the back of my neck, placing a hand on either of my shoulders, and I jumped. "Woh, calm down, Baby." He smirked, "I just wanted to know if you wanted a drink?"

I turned to him and smiled, feeling my heart rate fall to normal after it sped up from Frank scaring me. "Yeah. If you don't mind."

"Cool, whad'ya want?"

"Um, I dunno. Beer? Whiskey? Cidre? Cocktail? Whatever. Just surprise me." I answered.

He kissed my lips softly and then looked at Chrissy, "hey." She gave a small wave in response, "do you want anything to drink?"

"Well I'm driving tonight, so I'll just have a glass of water if you don't mind, Frank."

"Ooh, someone drew the short straw," he grinned, "sure thing. You coming into the kitchen?" We nodded and followed him.


	58. Chapter 58

The party quickly filled up with guests. I looked on my phone at the time the film finished and saw that it had already - good, Pete and Trick will be on their way back, then - I tried to imagine them going to the cinema. I bet they held each other's hands, and kissed in the back row of the screen room. The thought made me smile a little - though my smile faded quickly when Frank snuck up on me again and laced our hands together.

I jumped. "Jesus!" I exclaimed, "will you stop doing that?!"

He chuckled, "sure thing, Baby. Sorry." 

I sighed, "you don't have to be sorry, it's just super scary when you're not expecting it."

He smirked, "but it's cute when you jump like that," he tilted his head, "makes me wanna kiss you."

"Well you can kiss me  _after_ Pete and Trick are here." I told him firmly, though it was lighthearted, "I don't want to miss the doorbell because I'm to tied up with you."

He raised an eyebrow and leant close to my ear. "If tieing up is what you want, Kitten, then you just have to say."

I giggled, swatting him away, "you're absolutely ridiculous!" I exclaimed in a fit of laughter, "now go see if the food table is tidy -"

I was cut off by the doorbell. Frank and me exchanged glances before I dashed off to answer it.

 

It wasn't Pete and Patrick. It was the members of  _Panic! At The Disco_ , well more specifically Brendon Urie and Ryan Ross. "Hey, Guys." I grinned at them.

"Hey Cass." They remembered my name! A few weeks ago that fact would have been enough to set my heart racing with excitement, but now celebrities (and being one - kind of) had become second nature to me. I'd been adopted by Gerard Way, had sex with Ray Toro and Mikey Way, and I was dating Frank Iero. My best friend was Chrissy Costanza, and I was also currently living with Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump, and in just a few days I'd be going on tour with  _Fall Out Boy_.

"Um, Ryan..." I trailed off, "I think your, um... girlfriend is looking for you? Addy?"

His face lit up, and I saw Brendon's fall a little. That hurt me. Brendon was (kind of) a friend, and I didn't want to see him hurt. "Addy? She's here?!" I nodded and he hurried into the house.

I turned to Brendon, "there's alcohol in the kitchen, snacks are out the back, and so's the dance floor -"

"Is there gonna be karaoke?" I smirked and nodded. He clapped his hands in excitement, "I am so fucking  _amazing_ at karaoke. Wanna do a duet with me!?"  
I nodded and grinned, "yes!" I paused as I saw Pete's Porsche Panamera pull into the garage. They got out of the car and approached the front door. "But not right now, Brendon. Later, okay? Pete and Trick are here! Can you do me a favour? Go in, turn the music off and get everybody to come cluster in the kitchen, turn off the lights and went I bring them in, shout 'surprise'. I can give you two minutes to get that ready. Okay?"

He nodded and hurried inside. I stepped out of the house, putting the door on latch and closing it behind me. "Hey!" Pete exclaimed when he stood directly opposite me, just a foot separating us.

"Hey," I answered, praying that he hadn't seen Brendon go into the house just a few seconds before.

"Did ya have a good day with Frank?" Trick asked.

I nodded, "how was the movie?"

Pete shrugged, "it was good -"

"It was so sad." Patrick interrupted. Pete turned to him and smiled affectionately, "and it made the baby sad."

He put a hand on his tummy, "oh no," I said softly, "not the baby! We have to make it happy!"

"I agree." Trick replied, "when baby's sad then I'm sad. And when I'm sad I want Pepsi Max and dark chocolate."

Pete chuckled, "aww, let's go inside and make daddy and baby happy then." He went to walk into the house, but I quickly stepped in front of him, barring him from entering. "Uh... Cass? Can I go in my house please?"

I nodded, "yeah, but um..." I quickly tried to think of a lie to delay them, "the heating isn't working, so I um... I had to put the fire on in the library... and I'm um, waiting for the house to warm up!"

"Petey!" Trick cried, "I don't want to be cold! I'm  _always_ cold! Make me warm, Pete!"

From what I'd seen on television and read online, Patrick was acting like a typical pregnant woman... or man. I dunno actually, I'd never heard of a male becoming pregnant before. "Well that was a terrible lie -"

I bit my lip.  _I can't keep them outside any longer... gonna have to let them in. Please Brendon, have everything ready_. "D'ya know what?" I grinned innocently at Pete, "I bet it's warm enough now." I turned and walked inside, waiting for the two of them to follow me before going towards the kitchen. I turned to Patrick just before the kitchen, my hand resting on the doorknob, "I bet we can find some Pepsi Max -"

Brendon flicked the lights on as I opened the double doors, and everybody shouted, "SURPRISE!" It was a complete cliche, and it worked perfectly. Brendon had executed my plan flawlessly.

Pete had jumped a few centimetres he was so surprised, and Patrick was now sobbing once again. I turned to them and laughed. "It's like a pre-baby shower!" I declared.

"You... you did this?" Patrick asked, coming over to me and embracing me. 

I nodded, "with Frank's help, of course. And Chrissy called people and told them to come. Brendon got everybody into the kitchen when you arrived -"

"But it was  _your_ idea." Trick said, squeezing me tighter. "Why would you do something like this for us?" He asked as everybody began to go back to partying and somebody turned the music back on.

"Because you're my dads." I told him simply, "and I love you both. I know I was adopted by Gerard, but..." I sighed.  _I slept with him, but he's not my boyfriend, and I don't really want to live with him anymore, so I'm just gonna move in here permanently. Oh, by the way, I want to take one of your last names_. "But this house feels like home now... and I'd really like it if you adopted me."

"Oh, Cass." Pete took the last few steps and joined us, putting a hand on my shoulder, "we'd love to adopt you, right, Trick?" Patrick nodded. "We've wanted to adopt you since the first day you came to us... but we weren't sure if it was what  _you_ wanted."

"Oh, Guys." I threw my arms around them both, "I want it more than anything. I love you both so much."

"We love you too, Kid." Pete murmured in my ear as he pulled both Patrick and me into a bone crushing embrace. "And if the baby turns out anything like you, Cassia, then we'll be two lucky parents."

Now  _I_ was the one crying. Pete's words were so kind, and I loved him - and Trick - both so much. "Um, Cassia?" I turned. Gerard had tapped me on the shoulder. He looked at Pete and Trick and then back at me.

I looked at Pete and Trick, "um, do you maybe think you could give us some time alone? I need to talk about something with Gerard."

They nodded, "sure." Trick said, kissing me on the cheek and shuffling off. 

"Come find us when you're done." Pete said as he patted my shoulder and walked off after Trick.

I looked at Gerard, "I think maybe we should sit down." He nodded and sat on the sofa. I sat beside him, though not too close as I still felt awkward around him. Yesterday had been a mistake, and I didn't need my mind to tell me that. I knew it.

"So, um -"

"Look, Gerard, about yesterday." I was talking quietly so people couldn't hear us, but loud enough so he could hear me over the music coming from the back garden. "It was a mistake, and you know that as well as I do. I'm gonna, um... I want to move in with Pete and Patrick full time, and I think it'd be better for us. I loved living with you, don't get me wrong, and you were the first person who cared about me and took care of me in a very long time, and for that you'll always mean a lot to me, and I will always have time for you..." I bit my lip, feeling tears well up behind my eyes, "but I've asked Pete and Patrick to adopt me. And I think it's best that you give up on the campaign -"

"Cassia," he took one of my hands in his own and I fought the urge to recoil from his grasp. "I'm sorry about yesterday, okay? And I was just about to come apologise... and tell you that it is probably best if you live with Pete and Patrick permanently. Yesterday I cheated on Lindsey, my girlfriend, and I feel terrible about it - and you cheated on Frank, right?" I nodded, "so nobody can ever find out. We can't tell anybody, okay?" I nodded again and he let go of my hand, "I'll drop the court case, and I'll have somebody bring all of your stuff round here soon, okay?" I didn't nod this time. I was silent. "And I love you. I love you as a friend, because, let's face it, you were never just a daughter to me.  _I love you_."

"I love you too, Gee." I admitted quietly, the tears finally spilling over my eyes, "I always will." I threw my arms around him, forgetting the awkwardness.

"Hey, Cass!" Frank called out to me. He had entered the house, I knew that, and he'd soon be in the living room (probably) which was where we were.

I let go of Gee, "in here, Frankie!" 

He came into the living room. "Hey," he kissed the top of my head and sat in the armchair opposite us, "hey, Gee. What are we talking about?"

"Oh, um nothing." Gerard said quickly, "I was just telling Cass about Lindsey -"

"Oh yeah, she said something about you being her boyfriend. Congrats. She's hot -"

I gave him a disapproving look and he blushed. "But you're hotter!" He insisted.

Gee chuckled and I giggled, "and I was also just telling Gerard about how I think I'm going to live with Pete and Trick full time, and I think they're going to adopt me -"

"Wow, that's um," Frank looked at Gerard to gauge his reaction, "that's great." Gerard's expression was stoic. "I'm super happy for you, Baby."

"Yeah," I paused, "so am I -"

"Well I think I'm gonna get back to the party." Gerard stood up and smiled at me, "but Cass if you ever need anything you can come to me, okay?" I nodded and he walked off.

"That was weird," Frank observed once he was sure Gee was out of earshot, "wasn't it?"

I nodded. "Kinda." I got off of the seat and walked over to him, settling myself into his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and I smiled as I leant into his warmth. "I love you." I said against his chest.

"I love you more, Kitten." He whispered in my ear.


	59. Chapter 59

"You know," Frank said looking at me with a small smirk on his features, "we could go upstairs and cuddle if you wanted to."  
I looked at the clock on the mantlepiece. It was almost half past three! We'd gotten up for a while and ventured further into the party. We drank, and danced, and we ate a little food before going back into the house and settling on the sofa again, me on top of him, and him on my arms. Frank and me had been cuddled on the sofa for almost two hours.  
"I am kinda tired," I admitted, quickly following my statement with a yawn.  
He smiled. "I could carry you -"  
"Aww, Frankie," I said, grinning, "I'm taller than you. You'd probably pick me up and my legs would still reach the floor!"  
He blushed and I instantly felt bad. "I'm not that short."  
I tilted my head and gave him a really? look. "Aren't you like, five feet four inches and three quarters."  
He chuckled, though narrowing his eyes at me. "It's almost scary how much the bandom knows about me."  
"Oh my God." I grinned, "you said bandom. That's insanely funny -"  
He cut me off with a short, sharp passionate kiss. I smiled against his lips. "I'm gonna carry you to bed."  
I nodded, "okay then." God, I loved this guy so much. He was my everything. He wrapped his arms around me even tighter and stood up, holding me bridal-style. He walked into the kitchen and began to go up the spiral staircase, going up each step carefully and slowly.

 

"Where are we going then?" He asked as we reached the first floor, "your room? Or a spare?"

I shook my head, "my room. Somebody else might be using one of the other rooms."

I could definitely hear moaning, but I wasn't sure where it was coming from. But as I wrapped my arms around Frank's neck and he carried me closer to my room, the moans got louder and more violent. I prayed that nobody was in my room...

But of course, knowing my luck, somebody would be. Frank kicked the bedroom door open and I shrieked when I saw the two people in my bed. Addy Hobbs and Ryan Ross! She was riding him, and they were both moaning. I could hear their skins slapping together, and the stench of human sweat and cum hung in the air. I nearly choked on it all - Addy and Ryan were far too engrossed in each other and what they were doing to notice us, so Frank quickly stepped back and pulled the door shut behind us using one hand which he took away momentarily from my body.

My head was spinning from the sight I'd just seen, so I was glad when he hurried across the hallway and up the second flight of stairs to the next floor. He kicked the door open to the first bedroom we found and went inside. Luckily, nobody was in here, and the sounds being emitted by Addy and Ryan were so distant they were almost inaudible. Frank layed me down on the bed and pulled off his t-shirt, looking at me. "You don't mind if I sleep with this off, do you, Kitten?"

I shook my head, a small smile tugging at the corners of my lips. Of course I didn't mind. I liked seeing him shirtless -  _I liked seeing him naked_. "Not at all," I replied, "I think I'm gonna take off my top. Do  _you_ mind?"

He shook his head, "no. Of course I don't. I think you're beautiful whether you're dressed or not."

I giggled quietly and pulled the duvet back, sliding in between the covers and pulling my top off, discarding it somewhere on the floor. Frank chuckled as I wriggled further down into the blankets and turned over so I was facing him. "I love you." I told him in a quiet tone, "I really love you, Frankie, and I want you to know it. Even when I don't say it, please know that I love you. If we argue, then remember that I love you."

He smiled adoringly at me before kicking off his shoes and coming round to get into the bed beside me, putting an arm around me and pulling me into the warmth of his chest so we were now spooning. "I know you love me, Kitten," he whispered in my ear, holding me tightly as if he were afraid to let me go, "and I love you too. Okay? I love you so much, Cassia Wentz-Stump-Way-Henrick or whatever you want to call yourself. You're beautiful, and smart, and so talented. I love you with every fibre of my being, and I always will. Even after I'm not on this earth anymore the doctors will take my heart out of my chest for some weird scientific thingy, and they'll look at it and say 'who's face is that on his heart?'." He paused and kissed my earlobe, "and do you know who's face it will be?" I shook my head, though I knew the answer, "it'll be your's.  _I love you_."

His words were like water to a man dying of thirst... they were everything I wanted, and everything I needed.


	60. Chapter 60

Unlike the party at Gerard's house the day after I had been adopted by him, not many people stayed overnight. There were the obvious ones, of course - Chrissy and Dan (who had both been told by Pete and Trick that they were welcome anytime), Frank (who had stayed with me), Addy and Ryan (who were still asleep in my bed... butt naked!), Pete and Trick (obviously, it was their house) - and apparently some others had stayed too... though Frank and me only found that out later the next morning.

We were sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast, being cute and feeding each other food. He'd made me coffee and waffles using 'his famous recipe', and I'd cleared the table of alcohol and rubbish and food from the previous evening, and then had laid it with syrup, sugar, clean crockery and cutlery and anything else that was needed at breakfast.

But now Frank and me were sitting opposite each other, talking about how great the party had been the night before, and speculating about who had slept with who... though we hadn't anticipated the two people who came down the stairs a moment afterwards.

"Last night was a mistake." I vaguely knew that voice. It was Ellie Woodland's.

"It was amazing, you were fucking  _wow_ and -"

"Shut up, Dallon." She sighed and began to come down the stairs. Frank and me hurriedly continued our conversation, eager to not look like we'd been eavesdropping on the conversation, "it was a fucking mistake. A  _big_ one. One that I won't be making again. Yes it was fun, and yes I enjoyed it... but I was fricking  _drunk_. You -" she cut herself off when she saw us. "Oh, um..." Ellie bit her lip, "morning."

Dallon Weekes came down the stairs behind her. Apparently he'd come to the party the night before. I hadn't even known he'd been invited. Dallon glared at us if we were doing something wrong. How dare  _I_ be eating breakfast in my own house with my boyfriend! Ellie took the opportunity to stride through the house and away from Dallon Weekes. We heard her footsteps approaching the front door, and then we heard it open. Dallon evidently had as well because he dashed towards it. "Look, if you want to make another mistake then call me, okay? I put my number on a piece of tissue in your phone case. Please don't throw it away." 

Groaning in frustration, Ellie (presumably) walked out the front door, slamming it behind her. She slammed it hard enough that the whole house shook, which was a little disconcerting because I knew this was a fairly new build and therefore had very up-to-code materials and a modern design. "Desperate much." Frank said to me quietly, picking up his mug of coffee and taking a long drink from it.

I giggled, though restrained myself the nanosecond that Dallon came back into the room. "Hey." He sounded flat.

"Hi." Frank and me chorused, a slight tone of awkwardness in our voices.

"Um, sorry about that..." he bit his lip, "have you got any tea? I have to get to Ryan almost right away and -"

"Tea?" Frank raised an eyebrow, "you don't want coffee?"

Dallon shook his head, "I don't like coffee. It's just bleh!"

I giggled, but Frank was silent. "Anybody who dislikes coffee is not a friend of mine." He sounded like a psychopath, and it was definitely unnerving.

"Um," Dallon looked at me, a grateful look on his face, "tea's in the tea tin. By the kettle."

He nodded and crossed the kitchen, a look of relief hanging on his features.


	61. Three Days Later

Pete smiled at me in the mirror and turned, "you look amazing."

I blushed, "aww, Pete. You sound like a proud daddy -"

"I  _am_ a proud daddy." Pete replied, grinning as Trick walked into the room, "I have two amazing kids, and one of them isn't even here yet. I'm so fucking blessed."

"And you're going to be amazing dad to our little one," Trick said, "just like you're a good daddy to our big one." I blushed, "and Cass, you're going to completely smash it out there tonight."

Pete nodded, "and we can go out for dinner later, yeah?"

I nodded and smiled. Tonight would be first night performing on stage on tour, and my stomach was alive with butterflies. "Yeah. That sounds good -"

"Five minutes, Cass, Trick and Pete!"

We nodded at the stagehand who had appeared. He had a headset on, and was holding up five of his fingers, "right. Okay. Thanks!"

He left the room and I turned back to Pete and Trick, "sure you're ready to tell the world?"

They nodded in unison, and Patrick put a hand on his stomach, "it'll come out sooner or later. I'll start showing soon... and I want it to come from us."

I smiled, "and you're one hundred percent certain that you want me to come on the stage with you -?"

"Yes." They chorused.

"You're our daughter, and we want you on stage with us." Trick said, holding my hand, "come on. We'd better go stand by the entrance."

I nodded and followed him and Pete out of the room, smiling briefly at Joe and Andy as they waved at us when we passed by them.

 

We went on stage to raptures of applause, and the people in the mosh pit in front of us vying with each other to gain our attention. I smiled - I had never received so much attention in my entire life! "Hey, Guys!" Pete said into the microphone which was on its stand at the front of the stage in the middle. It was a little too short for him  - probably meant to be for Patrick during the performance which they'd be doing in a bit (after I had done mine!)  As soon as Pete had spoken, the whole of the arena went up in cheers... it was louder than it had been when we'd emerged from backstage. He laughed, "okay, okay, calm down. Patrick and me have some amazing news..." he trailed off and took the mic from its stand and strode over to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. Everybody was hushed now that he was talking, "but first... you lot know Cassia, right?!"

It felt like everybody in the crowd was cheering at me. I heard a few people throw insults my way, but strangely enough it didn't bother me. Pete held the microphone in front of my face. "Hi everybody!" I said into it, surprised when I heard my voice echo around the arena. It was a strange feeling. And I loved it.

"Okay, so first Trick and me want you all to know that we're going to adopt Cassia." He grinned, "and the second bit of news..." he looked at Patrick, who I could see was blushing, "you want to tell them, Trick?"

Trick nodded and slowly took the microphone, "um... hey guys... so, um, Pete and me..." he looked at Pete and then bit his lip. This was obviously hard for him, and I felt bad that he had to do it. I knew he would get so much hate for this... being gay  _and_ pregnant? One of the most well-known singers of the emo genre, and he was going to be hated on. "I'm pregnant." He bit his lip again, "um... we're going to be dads to Cass and another little person."

A lot of the crowd cheered and were clapping, but I could pick people out that looked sour. Like they wanted to hit Trick and Pete. Like they were actually  _mad_ that they were happy. I hated people who hated others' happiness.

I took the microphone from Trick, "that's great, Trick! I'm going to have a little brother or sister!" He smiled and blushed even more, and I turned to Pete. "Mind if I -"

"No, of course not." He took the microphone from me, "well Patrick and me are gonna go backstage now. We just want to thank you all for being so understanding and supportive. You're all so amazing, and such great fans and people. We're so lucky to have you all supporting us!"

He handed the microphone back to me and then held his hand out to Trick. Patrick went to take it, but I put a hand on Patrick's shoulder. He looked at me in surprise, but I smiled. I lowered the microphone from my face so the audience wouldn't be able to hear me answer. "Do you want to sing a duet with me first? I'm a little bit nervous -"

"Aww, of course, Kid." He answered in a supportive, loving tone. "Wha'd you wanna sing?"

"'Church'." I answered instantly, knowing that it was one of the songs I had always wanted to sing with Patrick. I'd imagined it in the home, and until that moment it had entirely slipped my mind. "I want to sing 'Church' from  _M A N I A_. Is that okay?"

He nodded and gestured for one of the backstage staff to bring out another microphone. When he had the second microphone in his hand he brought it up to his face. "So I'm going to sing a duet with Cassia first. Everyone knows 'Church', right?" The crowd was cheering, though I noticed that they were considerably quieter since Trick had announced his pregnancy. "Great. Okay. It's just going to be us, so we've got the backing track coming on  _now_." 

The music started right on cue, and I raised my microphone up to my lips. We hadn't rehearsed the song, so we didn't know what parts I'd sing and what parts he'd sing. I just prayed that we could get through it without completely fucking it up.

 

Patrick and me started together, and then I was quiet for a little whilst he sang... but then I started singing again, and he stopped completely, staring at me in awe and adoration. I finished the song by myself, and Patrick didn't take his eyes off of me. I looked at him, "Patrick?" He didn't flinch or show any sign that he had heard me. "Patrick?"

He blinked and turned back to the audience, "wow. I think that was the best duet I've ever sung with anybody!"

The majority of the crowd didn't applaud me or cheer for me. I felt myself blushing, and my stomach churning with fear. Maybe they didn't like me, maybe they didn't - 

My thoughts were cut off when Patrick took my microphone from me and lowered his own, "I think you should go backstage -"

"Boo!" There were several people shouting at me. 

"Now -" Patrick was interrupted again as somebody  _threw_ something at the stage and it hit my leg. It wasn't anything that would cause a bruise, just a bottle of water... but it got Patrick mad. He brought the microphone back up to his face. "Okay, who the  _fuck_ threw that?! That's not fucking cool!" He lowered the microphone once more and turned to me, "get backstage. Now."

I nodded and stumbled backstage, hardly able to believe what had just happened to me. I'd been  _booed_ off stage, and had had to go backstage as a result. Before I was even backstage I had tears running down my face. My eyes were closed, and I was hurrying away from the stage entrance.

I ran straight into Pete's arms, and he looked at me in surprise and anger. "I just heard Trick swearing and I was like 'that's not like him!' Why are you crying?"

"I got..." I hiccuped, not able to form words properly, "I got booed off stage!" I hiccuped some more, "and... and... someone threw a fucking water bottle at me!"

I heard Pete growl in the back of his throat and he pushed me aside, almost  _handing_ me over to Andy, who wrapped his arms around me, joining them over my stomach and calling out to Pete, "where are you going!?"

"To go and fucking beat some shitheads up -"

"But you'll be arrested, Pete! The media -"

"Fuck the media!" Pete yelled back at Andy, turning around. He looked gunblazing mad. I'd never seen him this mad... I'd never seen anybody this mad. "I'm gonna fucking go flip some shit! No one makes my little girl cry like that -"

He marched out on stage.


	62. Chapter 62

"All right!" Pete yelled, storming out and standing beside Trick, "what fucking little shit bag just made my daughter cry!?"

Trick turned to him, and I could hear them through the speakers. Trick was trying to make him be quiet - to calm him down - but it was not enough. "Pete, I think you should -"

"Come on then! Why don't you come the fuck on stage and let me fucking fight you?! She's fucking seventeen! How  _dare_ you make her cry!" Nobody came forward, and I was so tempted to go onto the stage and hold him back, to try and calm him down... but Andy was holding me back. "Fucking assholes! Why don't you -"

Somebody was pushing their way through the moshpit... and when they got to the front I saw who it was. I didn't know them, but I could see a woman aged about twenty with naturally platinum blonde hair - though she had pink streaks running through it. She was dressed in steampunk attire, and under the lights I saw the faint glimmer of piercings in her nose, lip, and eyebrow.

Patrick glared at her as though she were worse than something on the bottom of his shoe, "you?!" He bellowed, anger evident in his tone, "you made Cass cry!?"

She threw back her head and laughed, "I threw the water bottle. And I started the booing - at least from the moshpit anyways." She paused, "good fucking job that Cassia is crying. She's a whore. Slept with Frank, and nearly got him arrested - oh, and they're dating now, which is fucking great -"

She was cut off by Pete Wentz' body hitting her, and she was knocked backwards, though the girl didn't fall very far as some people behind her caught her and pushed her back up. But Pete swung at her again, and I was calling out to him, trying to get his attention, trying to be heard above the noise of the crowd. Nobody was trying to pull Pete away from the girl.

I heard Andy cursing behind me, "oh fuck..." he muttered, "fuck, fuck, fuck." He let go of me momentarily to put his hands behind his neck and stretch, "we're going to have the cops here in a second if he doesn't -" He cut himself off when I ran out onto the stage and basically  _threw_ myself into the crowd, just behind Pete.

However Pete was too enveloped in the fight to notice me, and as a result he elbowed me several times. At first it was just my stomach, but after that he caught my face a few times. I shrieked, and still Pete didn't turn. But now Patrick had his arms around me, and Andy was trying to pry Pete away from the girl, who was on the floor, beaten senseless and unconscious.

"Sir?" I heard somebody say. I turned and saw that there was a security guard tapping Patrick on the shoulder.

"What?!" Patrick yelled, which was so out of character for him. Patrick was never unkind to anybody unless they hurt him (or the people he loved) first.

"Um, Sir..." the security guard swallowed, "there's some police officers... they're here for Mr Wentz -"

"Shit!" Trick cursed, gesturing to Andy and then to me. I was still trying to stop Pete from hitting the girl, but it wasn't working. Patrick was standing far away from the action, and his hands were placed protectively on his stomach. The baby was his number one priority. Andy  _picked me up_ and carried me back up the steps of the stage and backstage, and into one of the dressing rooms. 

"Sit the fuck down!" He yelled at me, gesturing to the couch by the wardrobe, "now!"

"But Pete -"  
"Pete will be fine, Cassia." His tone had quietened down considerably, and it was softer too. "He's dealt with worst than this -"

"But the police -" He cut me off.

"Pete's been arrested before. Patrick's there with him, and they've got enough money to make bail -"

"And the girl -"

"She made you cry," Andy replied, "and that's not an excuse for what Pete has done, but that  _will_  be his excuse." Andy sighed, "and he wouldn't want you to worry about him, and Trick wouldn't want you to worry about it either."

I nodded slowly. "I... are they both alright?"

Andy was silent for a few seconds before continuing, "I don't know. Trick was away from the action - protecting the baby - and I saw Joe go out there just as I brought you back."

"Why did nobody try to pull Pete off of her?"

"I don't know." Andy answered quietly, "I don't know... but I think we should get out of here. Trick will be fine and he'll get Pete bailed - if he can - and then they'll come get you and the tour will probably be over early because -"

"I was booed off stage?" I raised an eyebrow, "come on, Andy, I'm not an idiot. Just say what you mean."

"I didn't mean that,  _actually_." Andy paused, biting his lip, "I meant because of what happened with Pete. He might get a warning, maybe a little community service - probably a huge fine - but Trick will think it's a good idea to lay low for a while."

I sighed, "I think..." I sighed again, "Andy, I'm kind of tired. Could you maybe walk me back to the hotel?"

He nodded and smiled, "yeah. Of course. I'll go get our coats."


	63. Chapter 63

"Where's Pete?" I asked when Patrick walked back into his hotel room. I had a key to their room, and had been waiting in there since Andy had walked me back.

He shrugged and grabbed his pyjamas from under his pillow, heading into the bathroom. "In the cell."

"What?!" I said in surprise, "why!?"

I heard the water running, and guessed he was in the shower. Patrick had closed and locked the bathroom door, so I let myself slide down it and sit on the floor, knees against my chest. "Because he's an ass! He beat up the fans - shit!"

I stood up faster than I had thought was humanly possible when I heard something or  _someone_ hit the floor. "Trick!" I yelled.

"I'm... uh... fine." He answered quietly, " _ouch_."

"You fell!?" I pounded on the door, conscious that Pete wasn't here and wouldn't be until Patrick bailed him out - probably tomorrow sometime - and that  _I_ was responsible. If Trick had hurt himself... if the baby... "Do you feel okay!? What did you fall on?! Where do you hurt!?"

The door  _clicked_ open and Patrick appeared, a plush white dressing gown wrapped around himself and barely covering his small baby belly. He had a small cut on the side of his forehead, and a few beads of blood running down his face. Other than that, he looked relatively okay. I breathed a sigh of relief though he was obviously hurt. "Did you fall over onto your stomach? Do you need to go to the hospital? I'll get Andy to drive us -"

"I'm fine. I just, um..." he bit his lip and put a (still wet) hand on my shoulder, making my clothes soggy where he was touching me. "The shower head fell from the holder and hit me on the head and clattered to the floor."

"Oh." I answered, glad that it wasn't  _serious_ or baby-related. "Maybe you'll need stitches?"

He sighed, "probably. But Pete would kill me if I went to the hospital and he didn't know about it. So I'd have to go and bail him out first -"

"We could send Joe and Andy, and I'll drive you to the hospital." I offered, already pulling my phone from the back pocket of my jeans, ignoring the text from Frank and calling Joe straight away. I wasn't actually giving Patrick a choice in it - he had to go to the hospital - and Pete had to come too. I explained the plan to Joe and then turned to Patrick, who was still looking at me in surprise. "What?!" I asked, watching him watch me.

"I just..." he bit his lip. "When you first came home to Pete and me, you were so quiet and, I dunno,  _embarrassed_ , around us, Andy and Joe. And now you're bossing us all about and looking after us. Like a mum. But you're not supposed to be the parent. You're not supposed to take care of us. We're supposed to be taking care of  _you_."

I smiled, "oh, Trick." I took his hand from my shoulder and squeezed it, "you do take care of me... but I'm seventeen - almost eighteen - so I don't need a lot of care. But you and Pete have a baby on the way." I gestured to his baby bump, "and they're going to need a lot more care. Think of it as me treating you like royalty until Baby comes. Because then the real work starts."

Trick grinned, "I've never had a baby. Never been around one. I don't know what kind of work they require."

I looked worriedly at the cut on his head, "how about I tell you on the way to the hospital? Because  _that_ hasn't stopped bleeding, and you can't lose too much blood." He nodded. 

"Give me a minute. I have to put some clothes on."

I nodded, "I'm gonna go start the car, put the heating on. I'm parked right by the doors to the hotel, and I'll have my headlights on. Hurry up though."

He nodded again and I left the hotel room.

* * * * *

"I'm sorry about tonight, by the way." I momentarily turned my attention away from the road and towards Patrick, who was absentmindedly stroking his baby belly and looking out of the window at the passing scenery. I didn't reply. "That girl... and the audience... I've never heard of anybody doing that to an artist. I thought -"

"Patrick." I put a hand up to signify for silence, though he only saw my movement out of the corner of his eye. I looked back at the road, "don't apologise. It's not your fault. Though I am pretty upset. I don't think I'll be able to go on stage -"

"But tomorrow might be different -"  
"Or it might be the same." I sighed, "I can't take that kind of rejection... that kind of  _hate_. Not again." I turned into the road that led to the hospital.

We drive in silence for a moment until he spoke again. "Do you know if they bailed Pete out yet?"

I shrugged and handed him my phone which had been in the compartment between our two seats, on charge. "Have a look."

"What's your password?"

"Here." I held out my thumb. He pressed it to the phone and it unlocked, already on contacts because that was the last app I had used. He called Joe.

* * * * *

"So you feel okay?" I asked for the umpteenth time as we walked out of the hospital and back to the car.

Patrick nodded, "just a slight headache. Nothing too serious. Besides, you heard the doctor. This kind of thing happens all the time -"

"But you're  _pregnant_ -"

"The baby's not growing inside my head, Cassia." He reminded me in a comical tone of voice, "a bump on the head -"

"A  _cut_ that needed stitches." I corrected.

He shot me a look that said,  _stop bringing it up_. "It's not going to hurt the baby -"  
"Hurt the baby?" Pete was hurrying over to us, but he had heard the last part of our conversation - albeit he'd gotten a little of it wrong. "What's hurt it? Is it okay? Oh my God, what did the doctor say!?"

He looked so worried, and it was almost funny. I had to stop myself from laughing as he reached us. "Baby, calm down." Patrick said, kissing Pete's cheek and then stepping back in line with me, "the baby is fine. The shower head just fell from its holder and caught my forehead -"  
"It  _cut_ you?" He echoed in a worrisome voice, "were you bleeding?" Before Patrick had a chance to answer, Pete turned to me. "Was he bleeding?"

"Um..." I trailed off, "a little bit -"  
"But Cass took care of it all, got me to the hospital in record time and got me seen by a doctor faster than I thought was possible. I'm alive - see?" He gave a cute smile to Pete, who winked at him in reply before pulling me into a hug.

"Thanks for taking care of him, Kid."

"No problemo, Pete." I answered, smiling.

Next Pete kissed Trick's lips, though it was soft and not in any way 'gooey'. "Are you gonna tell him?"

I glared at Patrick. "No -"

"Tell me what?" Pete asked, letting go of Trick and looking at me curiously. "Is it something bad? Please don't be something bad. I can't take anymore bad news -"

"Anymore?" I raised an eyebrow, "wha'd you mean?"

"Nothing." He bit his lip, "I, um... I've just had a hard couple of weeks. Hard couple of months really." He trailed off, "but what were you going to tell me?"

"I'm not telling him." I glared at Trick. "If you want him to know then you have to tell him."

"Fine." Trick took Pete's hand and began to walk back to the car, pulling him along behind him. I followed them, partly because it was my car, and partly because I didn't like hospitals. " _Cassia_ ," he turned back to me as he said my full name, "wants to quit the tour -"

"Okay." Pete answered.

" _What_!?" Patrick and me chorused.

"Okay." Pete repeated. "If Cass doesn't want to finish the tour because of what happened - and quite frankly, I wouldn't blame her - then that's fine. We'll call it quits and head back home."

"Thanks, Pete!" I said gleefully, knowing that it would piss Patrick off.

He turned back to me and shot me a glare. "Nice. Nice one, Kid. Real smooth."

I winked at him, giggling as I got into the driver's seat and Pete and Trick got into the back, for some reason not wanting to be parted from one another.


	64. Chapter 64

Frank rolled over and groaned. "What are you doing up?" He asked as he took his phone from the charger on the bedside table beside him. He looked at the time, "it's, like, ten in the morning."

I shrugged and looked back at my phone which was in my hand - and had been for the past seven hours. "I've been up since three." I told him.

"What? Why?!" Frank sat bolt upright, "Kitten, it's been three weeks. Don't you think that you're letting it rule your life -"

"No!" I exclaimed, turning to him in anger, "I was fricking  _humiliated_ , Frankie!" I told him, feeling the tears prick the corners of my eyes once more, "I bet that's never happened to you. People who you  _thought_ were your fans - and they humiliate you!"

"Okay, okay." He put a hand on my arm, "you're right, Cass. It's never happened to me... but it's been three weeks..." he bit his lip and leant over, kissed my cheek, and then moved back into his previous position, "look, I'm sorry, okay? But it just bothers me when you're like this. And you've been up since  _three_  and -"

"And what, Frank?" I asked him, putting my phone down beside me and looking at him, waiting for his next few words.

"And you're scaring me." He answered quietly.

"I...  _I'm scaring you_?" I echoed in surprise, not able to believe - nor comprehend - what I was hearing. "How?"

"I think I should call Gerard. He sorted you out when you were like this before -"

"NO!" I bellowed, causing him to jump several centimetres in the bed and jerk his arms back instinctively.

He turned to me. "Something happened... something between you and Gerard -"

"No." I answered, knowing that I was a terrible liar, "nothing happened. I just... I have Patrick and Pete as my dads now, and I don't need Gerard -"  
There was a knock at the door. I looked up and saw Patrick's face peeking around the side of it. I grinned. "Morning... um, can I come in, or are you two having a little argument?" He sounded awkward, and I immediately felt bad for him. 

I smiled encouragingly, "no, it's fine, Trick. Come in."

He came into my room clutching a piece of paper - about the size of a polaroid - to his chest, though it was the back of it. "Wanna see what I've got!?" He exclaimed in excitement as Trick bounded over to the bed and sat down in front of me, just in front of my legs.

I nodded and he turned the piece of paper - which was actually photo paper - around and showed it to me. It was a sonographic image, and there was a white blob in the middle of it. It wasn't  _really_ clear, but I could see what the picture was of... and I felt myself tearing up. "Is that my..." I trailed off, unable to say it. "Is that my little brother or sister?" I finished my sentence, feeling better than I had in weeks.

Patrick nodded, and I noticed Frank looking over my shoulder at the little image, "uh huh. Pete and me are gonna find out the gender next time we go." He bit his lip, "maybe you'd want to come with us?"

I nodded eagerly, "oh, Trick!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him - being careful not to crumple the picture of the baby between us, "I'd love to come with you!"

I pulled away from him, and he offered an awkward smile to Frank. "You're um, welcome to come too, Frank."

"Oh," Frank blushed. "Uh... thanks."

Pete smiled back and then handed me the photograph. "This is your one," he said as an explanation to my unspoken question. Patrick stood up and grinned at the two of us one last time before going over to the door - where Pete was waiting - we hadn't noticed him there before.

"I think Chrissy said she was coming over later." Pete said.

I looked at him in surprise, "oh... um, I haven't seen her in ages. That'd be nice."  
"Are you gonna get dressed?" Pete asked, though his tone wasn't aggressive or suggestive.

I shrugged and then shook my head. "No. Probably not. I don't really feel like -"

"It was a horrible thing that happened to you, Kid, but you have to keep going. Keep doing music, and keep performing -"

"Easy for you to say." I muttered, "you're the bassist for a world-famous band with thousands of fans."

"I didn't hear that." Pete stated from across the room, taking Patrick's hand in his own and giving it a quick squeeze.

Frank looked at me out of the corner of his eye and then looked back at Pete, "I don't think you wanted to."

Pete shrugged, "Cassia, I can't force you... but by staying in bed and giving up music... you're letting  _them_ win." He sighed, "look, there's milk downstairs, and some weird arse sausages - but they're alright. Fry 'em up and put them in a sandwich, okay?"

I shook my head, "thanks, but I'm not hungry."

Patrick sighed, "well then I guess you can have them, Frank."

 


	65. Chapter 65

"Uh..." Frank whispered against my lips, "we got company."

I opened my eyes and sighed when I saw Dan Gow standing in the doorway of my bedroom. I pulled away from Frank, "hey, Dan... um, where's Chrissy?"

He blushed and came further into the room, "she's downstairs with Ellie, Addy and Rhaella." 

I groaned, "what are  _they_ doing here?"

"Um, you probably shouldn't be rude, Kitten, because I can hear them coming up the stairs right now." Frank whispered into my ear.

And sure enough, a few seconds later, there were four more people in my room, and all of them (including Dan) were looking at me. "Hey," Chrissy greeted me, "you remember Addy, Ellie and Rhaella, right?"

I nodded. "Sure." I didn't really  _dislike_ the members of  _Modern Day Catastrophe_ , but I didn't know them very well, and I just got the wrong vibe from them... but they were girls, and girls my own age. I needed to know some more of those. The only people I really spoke to nowadays were Frank, Pete, Trick and Chrissy. "Hey, Guys."

"We have a proposition for you." Addy said, launching straight into why she'd come.

"Does it include getting out of bed?" I asked, a hint of sarcasm in my tone of voice.

Ellie bit her lip, "yeah -"  
"Then thanks, but no thanks." I replied.

"Oh, Baby, don't be a bitch." Frank laced his hand with my own, but I turned to him, shooting my boyfriend a glare. "Um, maybe I should go get showered or something." I nodded and he skulked off to my ensuite bathroom, picking up a spare change of clothes for himself on the way.

"So what's the proposition?" Chrissy asked, obviously trying to get my interest.

"We heard that Cass can sing -"

"I got booed off stage last time, Rhaella," I interrupted, "do you really think I'm going to put myself out for that kind of embarrassment - that kind of  _humiliation_ \- again?"

"Maybe you'd try again...?" Ellie asked, "for us?"

"If Pete, Patrick, Joe and Andy couldn't get me back on stage then and singing again, then what makes you think that you will?" I asked, crossing my arms against my chest. "Fairy dust?"

Rhaella sighed, "we'll get you a puppy if you sing for us tomorrow -"

" _Tomorrow_!?" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Give it a chance!" We heard Frank shout from the shower. We all turned to the closed door, and laughed, though we quickly recovered ourselves and carried on speaking.

"It's a small venue, Cassia." Rhaella continued, "only five hundred seats, and about a thousand people standing -"

"That's not small -" I interrupted, but Chrissy cut me off.

"The O2 arena in London holds twenty thousand," she reminded us, "so fifteen hundred - at maximum capacity - isn't that many."

"If I wanted a puppy then Pete would buy me one -"  
"Just one song, Kitten." Frank said as he opened the bathroom door, a towel wrapped around his bottom half and his chest bare, though he was using a second towel to dry his hair. He walked over to me and leant down, kissed my cheek, and then whispered into my ear in a seductive tone, "a puppy  _and_ a present from me. What have you got to lose?"

I giggled quietly, aware that nobody had heard what he'd said other than the two of us, "just one song?" I said, reiterating what I had already been told.

"That's all." Chrissy and Rhaella chorused.

"Unless you wanna do more." Addy added.

"Well..." I bit my lip, "okay, but only if I get to pick the song. D'ya do covers?"


	66. Chapter 66

What song does Cass sing when she goes on stage with  _Modern Day Catastrophe_?

Cass sings 'Welcome To The Black Parade' by  _My Chemical Romance_ which will forever be her favourite song. At the concert, Gee and Frank, Ray and Mikey are in the crowd, but only Frank stays until the end to congratulate her. Pete and Patrick are also in the crowd, but leave early also because Patrick feels sick.

Do Patrick and Pete have a name picked out for their baby?

When I was initially writing and planning this story, I was going to have the baby's name as Lacey-Willow Wentz (yeah, it was a girl). But after I planned upto chapter 77, a few things happened that made me change the name to Daisy-Blue Hope Wentz.

What happens with Patrick's baby? How does he go into labour? How does he give birth?

This took a lot of careful consideration because I didn't want to be really graphic with the birthing scene, but I wanted it to be real enough that you, as the reader, could image that Patrick, a male, could give birth almost as a woman would. Patrick goes into early labour and passes out, and is put into Cass' Audi Q7 which Frank drives whilst Cass and Pete sit in the back, trying to help the unconscious Patrick as much as they can. There's bad traffic, so Cass and Pete have to awkwardly carry Patrick between them whilst Frank runs to the hospital for an ambulance. Pete and Cass get Patrick to the hospital before an ambulance finds them. Patrick gives birth anally, and the baby is a girl (like I already said). But Patrick is in a bad state, and worsens everyday. After a week, Cassia goes to see Pete in the hospital's nursery and sees him standing by the window, crying, holding the unnamed baby in his arms. She taps him on the shoulder and asks if he's crying, which he answers after a moment's hesitation with a simple "yes." They talk for a while and Pete admits that he and Patrick had chosen the name Daisy-Blue for their daughter, though know Patrick's condition is getting worst, Pete wants to add another name... Daisy-Blue Hope. That kind of answered the question, didn't it?

Does Cass sing again?

Cass sings occasionally for  _Modern Day Catastrophe_ , though she doesn't ever sing for a band or as a soloist again. She's too humiliated for that.

What happens with Chrissy and Dan? Do they end up together?

As in real life, Dan and Chrissy don't end up together, and their relationship is eventually purely platonic, and they look back on the romantic part of it with fond memories.

Who does Gerard end up with?

I like to think that Gerard ended up with Lindsey - just because they're so cute in real life, and their daughter, Bandit, is the most adorable little human to grace this earth (lmao I sound like a stalker-weirdo... I'm not, dw).

And Cass... what happens there? 

In terms of when she grows up? She's a lyricist for  _Fuelled By Ramen_.

And in terms of relationship? She lives with Frank from the time she is eighteen to when she is twenty-three, and then breaks up with him because she has already had one baby with him - a son, Dylan (aged six in 2029) - and doesn't want anymore for a while, but Frank knows he is getting older and wants more. She doesn't want to stand in the way of his happiness, and so leaves him be. She meets Kellin Quinn after performing as a guest singer for  _Sleeping With Sirens_  at Reading Festival (in the UK) two years after her and Frank break up and they start a relationship which produces two daughters; Aerin-May (aged three in 2029) and Stella-Leone (aged two in 2029). She stays single for the next twelve years until she meets a man named Henry Pryce who owns a music shop in Oxford, England. Now, aged forty and with three kids (Dylan - 18, Aerin-May - 15, Stella-Leone - 14), she moves her and the three kids to Oxford and has IVF so as a result becomes pregnant with twins - boys, who are eventually named Pete and Gerard (Henry has no idea why she chose such 'old-timey names', but thinks that they're unique so he doesn't mind). Frank, who has had three children since Dylan, still makes time to see his oldest kid whenever he can, though it's not very often, but Dylan flies over to spend three weeks with his dad every summer break. Stella-Leone and Aerin-May don't see their dad unless he is in the UK, which is not very often, so they don't have a great relationship with him.

And how Cass' life ends? She is in bed, thinking of what a strange life she's led and how much she misses her husband, Henry, who died nine years previously. And then she falls asleep... and when her kids come over the next day - at about 2PM GMT they find her in the bed, and for the first time in a very long time, Cassia Wentz-Pryce looked happy. Cassia was 86 when she died, and died in 2087.

What happens to Patrick? Does he ever wake up?

Patrick slips into a coma just a few days after Cass speaks to Pete in the nursery and he tells her what the baby is called. He eventually stops breathing after a few weeks, and is put on life support by the doctors. At this point, Pete has taken Daisy-Blue home, and knows that Patrick would want him to prioritise their daughter so he doesn't spend a lot of time in the hospital. Instead he spends time with Daisy-Blue, taking her for walks, swimming, and generally on days out. 

But after three months of being on life support, Pete thinks it is time to pull the plug - not because he doesn't love Trick - because he loves Trick almost as much as he loves Cass and Daisy-Blue... but he knows that Patrick wouldn't want to be dependant on a machine for an indefinite amount of time... so Pete brings Cass and Daisy-Blue to the hospital to say goodbye, and for the final...  _part_.

And when the machine is off and Pete is sobbing like mad, and Cass has had to leave the room (taking Daisy-Blue with her because Pete didn't want the baby to be around death), it is silent for a few seconds... and then there's a deep breath, and Patrick opens his blue eyes, and looks straight at Pete. "Oh my fucking God. Is she okay? The baby? Daisy-Blue? Is she -"

"She's fine, Patrick." Pete reassures his best friend and one true love as he kisses the soft lips which he has missed oh-so-fucking much.

 


End file.
